No N97 for you! Is Nokia really going to sell the N97 at Flagship stores before pre-order loyal fans?

Last night while at my daughter’s soccer practice I read the following Tweet from Chris Ziegler, Engadget Mobile editor, “I am literally beside myself that I’ll have an N97 NAM tomorrow. what an unexpected surprise!” I quickly sent him a reply to find out if it was a review unit or a pre-order unit and he said neither. Apparently the Nokia N97 NAM units will be available at the Chicago and New York Flagship stores today, 9 June 2009. While this is good and exciting news for those living in these two cities, especially given the rather uninspiring iPhone 3GS news yesterday, I am VERY DISAPPOINTED that Nokia is blowing yet another launch here in the US.

There were a few issues and blown opportunities with the launch of the excellent Nokia 5800 XpressMusic device and now it appears Nokia is sticking it to all of us who pre-ordered the Nokia N97 over a month ago. Those fans who made a commitment to buy the N97, many of who will never get any hands-on time with it before it arrives and some who have been reportedly charged already, have no idea when they will get their N97. Yet, those who are lucky enough to live in Chicago or New York will be able to walk into a store, try out the device, and then purchase one on the spot. Am I jealous of these folks? You betcha I am and I do think it is great for those who can walk in tomorrow and pick one up. However, Nokia really should honor the pre-orders first and make their most ardent fans happy. What is the point of pre-ordering the device if you don’t get it first?

I will be really ticked off if the Nokia pre-orders ship out after the Amazon, Dell, and other online retailer orders and will definitely think twice before ordering from Nokia USA ever again.

I was hoping Nokia could get a launch right here in the US, but it appears they may blow another opportunity and actually enrage some of their most ardent enthusiasts. With launches like this, I can see why Nokia is not as successful as they could be here in the US.

I do think the AT&T E71x launch went pretty well and have actually seen the commercial with the E71x featured several times on TV.