Lumia ICON Discontinued?

I don't see it in the online shop either. I wonder if they ran out of inventory and waiting for new stock without the Nokia name? I don't see any articles or announcements mentioning it being discontinued.

Article on WPCentral: Verizon reportedly retires the Lumia Icon less than a year after launch | Windows Phone Central

cjhawkins3rd

This makes no sense at all. I moved from AT&T to Verizon specifically because they had the Lumia Icon. This cannot be the case.

You didn't like the 1520?

cjhawkins3rd

I didn't like the direction Apple is taking the iPhone.

I have a fraking feeling this is indeed the case. They don't want to update it so they retire it instead. I bought mine on the Edge plan the first of March. I cannot do anything until next March or when I have half of it paid for. I waited for the Icon specifically because I like Nokia and everything seemed to indicate that it was made for WP 8.1. In fact, if MS hadn't held WP8.1 so long I am confident it would have been on there by default. A large portion of the rest of the world now has WP8.1. Developers are updating their apps to 8.1 only. Where does that leave the 8.0 users? SOL I guess.

You know, I would switch to another carrier if I could but unfortunately Verizon is the best in this area. I would have dropped calls daily with AT&T; not so with Verizon. T-Mobile and Sprint are worse. I like to say that just because you are better than your competition, it doesn't mean that you are the best or any good. It just means you are not as bad as your competition. My recent experiences with Verizon have lowered my satisfaction with them.

I know that Verizon doesn't have to give us the update. I know that they could care less about me despite the extra $100 per month they are getting from me when I upgraded. But come on, this phone was basically made for 8.1 and it was the only real WP phone they had. It is not like they have to test and release updates for a dozen phones. How difficult is it to do something that should be so simple? I spend my life working writing software so I am not quite ignorant about what these kind of things take. Unless Nokia really botched the firmware upgrade, I can't imagine it taking more than 1 week to fully test on their network. It isn't like it is new technology. Let me put it this way: if I was in charge (i know, i'm not, but) and you took this long to test a phone (assuming you actually did), you would have a lot of explaining to do to keep your job. So stop blowing smoke and let us know your plans.

cjhawkins3rd

This all appears to be a rumor, with no confirmation by Verizon. My Icon is the best phone I have had so it does not make sense what I am reading. Also, it is not the best for Verizon to be reliant on only Apple or Samsung for most of its sales. That could be a huge mistake. So I think that they will support the Icon. My guess.

barnfish

I'm not expecting Verizon to answer your post, I haven't seen a single legitimate response in all these threads about 8.1/Cyan from an official Verizon rep - "more info soon, sign up for our spam" is not a legitimate response. They might keep the Windows forum open just to give the suckers like me someplace to vent, but it's obvious Verizon does not market Windows Phones any longer, and are actively discouraging their purchase. Very unfortunate, I really like my Icon.

galaxy1901

i just sent an e mail to pat devlin a verizon exec for the ny metro region.He promises an answer in 24 hours?

unknown

Even if the ICON is retired we have been promised by Microsoft that we will receive the 8.1 update this quarter. In the previous event that happened recently, you can watch the video on youtube, they specifically called out the Lumia icon name in getting the update first.

Wanderist

I bought my Icon on the Edge program too, in April. And now its discontinued or 'retired' as they say? I'd hop carriers to AT&T over it but we have 8 lines at present. Three I can drop in November but I'm still tethered by the other contracts.

So if there is going to be no support for the Icon I may have to leave the WP platform which really ticks me off. It is SO much better than Android and I've never been a fan of Apple.

Verizon I am so, SO disappointed in you. You will not get any further recommendations from me to friends and family and as my family's remaining lines expire, we will not be renewing those contracts. So that's 8 lines in one account you are losing over this. Not that you care.

This is very disconcerting. I'm curious to know why the Icon and not the 928, HTC 8X or the Samsung ATIV SE which are a lot older then the Icon.

If this is true and i hope it's not I'll be switching to AT&T once my contract is up.

The Microsoft Store and Amazon still sell the Icon. Hopefully the person from VZW Support was mistaken.

Let's hope this is just a further demonstration of the ignorance of Verizon Support. I know that somewhere there must be a good phone support person. I have yet to talk to one though.

Dregus311

Unfortunantly it is true that it has been retired, for poor sales apparently. Customer service spent 2 hours on the phone with me last night as I complained about it and tried to asertain if we were going to get Cyan which enables LE BT for use with devices such as Fitbit. It is completely redicuslus that they would do this without at least confirming they would release future firmware updates for phones less than 2 years old. I switched from ATT for this phone and there better coverage, yet they take my hard earned money and throw this junk in my face. I say we all contact the FCC and file complaints. Even if there is no law requiring the update phoen firmware when released for said phones, there sure as heck should be! I am not big on over regulation, but when people speed $500-$1K on devices they should get proper support for at least a couple of years. Sad thing is MS can't do much about this as they gave Verizon Cyan and it is Verizon who is failing to put time towards testing. The device was made for 8.1 (i.e. 930)!

Dregus311

I actually talked to a great tech support guy last night, it was not his fault his company is a piece! He did everything he could, including escalating a complaint up the chain. Of course when put on hold who knows who he actually talked with.

I would guess the HTC Onr (M8) will be in the same boat in the next few months as well. So with the supposed poor sales of the Icon the 928 is selling better?

VZW just mights well dump Windows Phone all together and stop wasting customer time and money....

Dregus311

Yea I dont get it either. the 928 was a joke...nowhere near as good as the 920 was. My parents got 928 on my recommend because I had a 920. I played around with theirs and it was just an ugly build and 8.0 was missing entirely to much from the OS. 8.1 is pretty good and 8.1.1 is outstanding!

jlesho09

The Verizon Support Twitter account did indeed confirm last night that the Icon has been retired; but there may be more to the story. Some people have theorized that they've discontinued this SKU to make room for a Microsoft-branded (as opposed to Nokia-branded) version of the Icon that is pre-loaded with Cyan or Denim. It's an extremely optimistic theory that I hope is true, though admittedly I don't have high hopes.

Also remember that discontinuing sales does not necessarily mean that they will no longer support or update the existing handsets. Again, this is an optimistic viewpoint, and with the way the Icon has been treated so far it's not likely to come to fruition, but it's something to think about.

If the phone and all future updates have indeed been discontinued with no solution on the horizon, then I'll probably take my business elsewhere. If Verizon doesn't want to support me, I have no reason to support them.

I hope it's just a re-branding issue/new SKU. But being VZW is so tight-lipped they can spit diamonds we just have to sit and wait speculating what's going on.

If the rebranding is true, then I wouldn't be surprised if marketing is hoping that we will dump the Icon for the rebranded one. If it is just rebranded, that is just further proof that 8.1 and cyan work on the Icon and Verizon is holding it up. They just want us to get another device. I've got news for them. I just got my Icon and I plan to keep it for a while now.

cjhawkins3rd

I didn't like the direction Apple is taking the iPhone.

I'm curious, what does that have to do with switching carriers?

clone525252

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Verizon---Nokia-Lumia-Icon-for-Windows/productID.306508100 this link is to a 8.1 ready Nokia Icon for preorder in the Microsoft store but we cannot get answers for when we will get the update. WTF Verizon

jharris326

Ready just means IF the M***S at Verizon release the update it will load it. It does not come WITH the update.

Wonder with us all complaining and filing FCC complaints about not getting the Windows Phone 8.1+Cyan, VZW decided to retired the phone

bsites1968

You could always daily harass their Twitter account @VZWSupport every day telling them it's time to release Cyan and then start the online chat and say we want Cyan and then close the chat. :smileyhappy:

bsites1968

Or if someone has a media contact willing to keep on Verizon about it... That could be really fun!

stvnb36

If Verizon discontinues support for the Icon I JUST got, I will discontinue Verizon to head back to AT&T. Only reason I came to Verizon was for the Icon

1bit

Doesn't matter if they retire it so long as they pass through the updates. Actually, my take on this is that if it is retired then the 930 comes to the US on multiple carriers (maybe even VZW). I'd just switch our business Icons over to that carrier and I'm sure we'd get the firmware through them. Alternatively, I doubt MS will leave Icon users hanging and would just allow the Cyan/Denim updates to flow from them through a non-OTA update.

Technically the Icon and the 930 are identical devices so VZW wouldn't carry the 930 if they "retired" the Icon.

Hopefully the 930 or similar will make it's way to AT&T. I don't see Sprint or TMobile getting any flagship devices anytime soon.

jnetSYNATK1

If it was discontinued for poor sales, its their own fault. They push apple sales and apple only, and sheeple buy them.

Microsoft needs to go the way apple did with phone - making one flag ship. This will prevent fragmentation , make it easier to keep updated and ultimately boost sales.

Verizon is losing another customer. Dropped FiOS, and now I am switching carriers. Not giving them anymore money. Their CS and lack of communication blows.

jnetSYNATK

Microsoft needs to go the way apple did with phone - making one flag ship. This will prevent fragmentation , make it easier to keep updated and ultimately boost sales.

I can't agree with this as Apple's view, for the most part, is one size fits all. I prefer having choices because not everyone is the same and has different needs. While I'm NOT an Apple fan (well, not for the last 25 years,) at least they now offer two version of their iPhone 6.

Southway523

After 40 min on the phone with "customer I have no clue" they are still blaming the update roll out on Nokia. They did admit that the Icon has been dropped. Would have been great to know when I bought this on 9/04/2014. Of course now I'm stuck in a two year contract with a phone that they, I'm sure, are in no hurry to update.

loki666

Yup. Just had a chat session with sales. Here's how it went:

Your RealTime session ID is RT11048243491.

You are now chatting with 'Emily J.'

Emily J.: Hello, welcome to Verizon Wireless sales chat! My name is Emily J., may I have your name, please?

You: Hi Emily, I'm Steve.

Emily J.: Hi Steve, how may I assist you with your order?

You: Where is the Lumia Icon? I listed your smartphones, and it's not included. In fact, the only Windows Phone listed is the Lumia 928.

Emily J.: I will be glad to assist you today, however we no longer have the Icon.

You: Why?

Emily J.: This phone was retired.

You: It sounds like Verizon doesn't want to sell any Windows Phones.

Emily J.: I am not sure if any new ones are coming out, but usually do once a phone is retired.

You: Thanks. I'll be going to AT&T now. They seem to like Windows Phones.

Emily J.: I do understand and I want to apologize for the inconvenience, is there anything else that I can assist you with today?

You: No thanks. Good bye, Verizon.

So I spent $500 to get this phone, and this "exclusive" is now "retired". So I wouldn't hold my breath for either the Cyan or Denim firmware. In fact, you probably won't ever see them upgrade the phone to Windows Phone 8.1. How incredibly sleazy Verizon is. I'm done with them. NEVER AGAIN. I've upgraded my Icon to 8.1 Dev. Preview which is nice, but I want the dang firmware enhancements!

In fact, I'll probably just move my Icon to an AT&T sim card, though you'll not be able to get LTE.

loki666

They're not identical devices in the sense that the Icon doesn't have the necessary GSM frequencies necessary for LTE on other carriers. You want LTE with the Icon, it's Verizon or nada.

And that's one thing I like about Europe - the phones aren't locked into a single carrier. You do business with a carrier based on their service, not their available phones. Could anyone imaging us picking our ISP based on the computers we're allowed to connect with?

If the carriers continue to do different communication frequencies and protocols, the phones need to be changed so we can just add a chip to connect to whichever provider we use. If we want to change providers, we just yank out the old chip and replace it with a chip for our new service provider.

Tired0fVZW

I am a current ICON owner and I can agree about the frustration of not having Cyan and the fact that they are discontinuing a phone that is less than a year old, but unfortunately I have dealt with VZW for a long time and experienced this update issue all the way back to the original Motorola Droid. They have always been WAY later to the show when it comes to updates. It's nothing new. I agree with primortal though, I believe they might be making way for the 930. While Big Red does have an affinity toward iPhone and Android devices, they wouldn't want to lose the percentage of market share for WP users to competition regardless how small the percentage. 1% can make a big difference to revenue produced. If AT&T hadn't lost my business in the past for billing issues, then I would go back, but unfortunately no one else can provide coverage and speeds as good as VZW so I'm stuck. If they don't release the Cyan update before the end of the year, even though Denim is suppose to be due (you can't update to Denim without Cyan), I may see about settling my differences with AT&T and switching. I have been a long time customer with VZW and have multiple lines with them, but I am at my wits end. It's time they started caring about their customers no matter which platform or phone they choose.

I believe there is a big difference between iPhone and other phone users. iPhone users are quick to jump on the next phone and Verizon likes that. Other phones are getting to the point where they can last longer, especially if updates are provided. So as a WP (Icon) user I plan to keep mine for a while. Verizon does NOT want that. They want us to get a new phone. It is the only way to pad their pockets. But I guess that is the great thing about the good ole US of A: businesses and individuals are free to be as greedy as they want. Unless we make noise where it can be heard by others to rally around (i.e., not here in the forums) we might as well resign ourselves to the fact that the customer is never right when it comes to mobile businesses. :smileysad:

unknown

fkmalone. You do realize Verizon doesn't make squat on phones. You know how much a $650 iPhone costs Verizon? $650.