Verizon to Retire Lumia Icon Eight Months After Release?

nokia lumia icon rear panel long term review somegadgetguyA frustrating development for Windows Phone fans on Big Red. It looks like VZW is pulling the plug on the Lumia Icon only eight months after the phone was launched.

Internationally known as the Lumia 930, Verizon was the exclusive carrier to offer it here in the United States. While the rest of the world has officially been updated with Windows Phone 8.1 and Nokia’s Cyan software, the Icon has languished under Verizon’s ultra-strict and very slow upgrade approval process. Galaxy Nexus owners likely understand the frustration of watching the rest of the software world pass you by.

Now with word from @VZWSupport on Twitter, that the Icon is retired, it seems even less likely that there will be an official 8.1 update for the Icon. I also doubt that we’ll see a 930 variant arrive on any of the other carrier with AT&T focusing on launching their HTC One W8 and the Lumia 830 mid-ranger. As it pertains to Windows Phone, T-Mobile largely seems content at the entry level with the Lumia 635.

Very frustrating indeed as the Lumia Icon/930 is a solid flagship phone, but all smartphones are only as good as their support, and this move removes one of the precious few options for a WP flagship here in the States…

(via WPCentral)