The idea seemed impossible just a couple of weeks ago.  But recent events have moved it squarely into the maybe column. I’m not saying HTC is on the verge of discontinuing the Incredible, but there’s now enough circumstantial evidence to make it a possibility. 

Here’s why:

During the weekend of July 10, I was contacted by two unrelated people reporting they had been told, with different explanations, the Incredible was being discontinued.  The first said a Verizon sales rep told him the Droid X would soon take the Incredible’s place in the carrier’s Android lineup; the other said a Verizon salesperson told him not to bother ordering an Incredible (which was – and is – backordered) because it was about to be discontinued.

I largely dismissed the idea that one of the most widely-praised Android smartphones would be discontinued barely two months after its release.  But I did assume there was some truth in the information provided to these two men.  The AMOLED display used in the Droid Incredible had been trickling out of Samsung’s production facilities much more slowly than HTC wished, which was responsible for the smartphone’s chronic backorder status.  Perhaps a new version of the Incredible with a different SKU was in the pipeline, which may have caused the Verizon reps to think the Incredible wasn’t long for this world.

So I contacted Verizon Wireless PR for clarification.  I assumed the response would be something along the lines of a flat-out denial or vague information on a display technology transition.  It wasn’t. 

When I got a response, the message read:

“Verizon Wireless or HTC have not made an announcement about the Incredible. It’s a popular device and we continue to sell it.”

Continue to sell it?  Not “will continue to sell it”?  Hmm…  Qualified and evasive wording is nothing new in PR, but if the Incredible’s shelf-life was assumed to be the normal year or so, why the couched response?

Then, today, HTC announced it would begin using Super LCD (SLCD) displays in its current 3.7-inch AMOLED smartphone offerings later this summer.  This move is an effort to get more smartphones onto the market in light of the ongoing AMOLED shortage.  Mentioned in the press release were two 3.7-inch-screened HTC smartphones: the Desire (which isn’t yet sold by a U.S. carrier) and Nexus One (which seems to be on its way out). There was not word one about the Droid Incredible, which is certainly more popular in the U.S. than either of these devices.  I wasn’t the only person who found this omission odd.

So, there you have it.  Three unrelated events which together point to the Incredible’s possible demise. 

Any thoughts? 

Matthew Nichols, Products Editor

Android v2.2 is, at present, limited to the Google Nexus One in the United States.  Other newer, even high-end Android handsets like the Droid Incredible, Samsung Captivate or Motorola Droid X are running the older v2.1.

But according to information provided to BGR by a tipster, at least one of these devices will also be getting Android 2.2 (a.k.a. Froyo) in as soon as two or three weeks.

That device is the HTC Droid Incredible.  The tipster says that the popular smartphone will be getting the Froyo upgrade by early August which will add sought-after features like 802.11n connectivity, 3G Mobile Hotspot functionality, 720p HD video recording and new widgets for email and news.

This has not been confirmed by Verizon or HTC.