Did Sprint promise RIM BlackBerry Tour sales?

According to a UBS research note, Sprint Nextel promised Research In Motion certain volume sales of the BlackBerry Tour in order to launch the smartphone at a similar time as Verizon Wireless.

The note, by Phillip Huang, also indicates Sprint will heavily promote the Tour in order to encourage sales. A Sprint spokesman said the carrier does not comment on the inventory of its device portfolio.

Another significant nugget from the note is that Verizon will launch the BlackBerry Storm 2 in October. Indeed, the firm predicts RIM will have a busy second half of the year with a range of Blackberry launches.

Sprint previously announced the Tour would be available later this summer for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after $150 in rebates. Verizon declined to comment on pricing or availability information for the Tour. The phone will support CDMA EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad, making it a world phone. The smartphone will have a 3.2-megapixel camera, media player for music and video, support for BlackBerry App World and a microSD slot.

For more:
- see this National Post article

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