Sprint, T-Mobile Galaxy S III’s to face delays, limited launches

The Sprint and T-Mobile versions of the Galaxy S III, which are supposed to launch Thursday, will face rockier releases than previously expected, according to both of the companies.

Sprint’s launch of the phone will face delays and the device will be sold only online and over the phone initially, according to a note from the company. In-store sales of the phone will begin next week.

Sprint also said that because of a limited supply, it will delay the shipment of the 32 GB Galaxy S IIIs until next week. There is also a chance that pre-orders of 16 GB versions of the phones may also be delayed a day or two, although the company said it is optimistic that it can deliver by launch date.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate the patience of our customers as we work through this minor delay in availability,” the company said. “Should this situation change, we will continue to update this post as we have new information to share.”

T-Mobile, which did not take pre-orders of the phone, also said that its release of the Galaxy S III will be limited to online and “select retail markets starting tomorrow.” The network said the phone will launch only on its top 29 markets Thursday and will roll out elsewhere over the next few weeks.

It’s not the smoothest launch ever, but it will happen before either Verizon or AT&T get out their versions of the phone, which will happen sometime next month -- although those two companies are taking pre-orders.

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