Sprint renames the HTC 7 Pro the Arrive, launching it tomorrow
Punch sprint.com/arrive into your address bar and the above is what you shall find. Not a generic error marker but a URL-specific “coming soon” message that would seem to confirm the existence and indeed near-future arrival of the HTC Arrive.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Arrive extends a four-year Sprint–HTC hardware lineage that began when Sprint introduced its first touch-screen phone in October 2007, continued through the HTC Touch Pro going on sale online in November 2008, and peaked with the $349.99 Touch Pro2 in September 2009. The 7 Pro/Arrive is that QWERTY slider family reborn on Microsoft's platform rather than Windows Mobile.
It lands into a crowded February: HTC has just put the Inspire 4G on AT&T at $99.99 running Android 2.2, Verizon has set a $249 advertised price for the ThunderBolt, and HTC's next Android flagship is already leaking ahead of its Mobile World Congress reveal. A teaser page at sprint.com/arrive confirming an imminent launch is how Sprint chose to announce its first Windows Phone 7 device.
First-order effects
- Sprint gets its first Windows Phone 7 handset, plugging the biggest gap in a lineup otherwise anchored by Android while keeping the Touch Pro-line QWERTY-slider buyer in-house.
- The sprint.com/arrive URL-specific teaser doubles as free confirmation of the rebrand, letting Sprint validate the device without a formal press announcement.
Second-order effects
- Verizon and AT&T are discounting Android flagships into the $99–$249 range this month, so Sprint must price and merchandise the Arrive against subsidized LTE Android hardware rather than against other Windows Phones.
- HTC now fields competing products on both sides of the fence — its own Android devices at rival carriers versus the Windows Phone Arrive at Sprint — splitting its marketing spend across two platforms.
Third-order effects
- If every major US carrier carries Windows Phone 7 alongside Android within its lineup, Microsoft's platform survives on shelf presence rather than headline devices, and carriers gain leverage to bargain between the two suppliers.
- HTC's dual-track strategy — Windows Phone sliders plus Android flagships like the one surfacing at Mobile World Congress — positions it to hedge whichever OS wins carrier mindshare.
The trend: US carriers are rounding out their 2011 lineups with Windows Phone 7 devices as a hedge against Android saturation, with HTC supplying both sides.