Not long after Sprint acknowledged shortages of the HTC Evo, one of the hottest new smartphones on the market, Verizon Wireless sounds only somewhat confident that the same fate wont befall its latest Android phone, the Droid X, which goes on sale Thursday.

In a statement, Verizon says, While we are currently experiencing delays on orders of one of our more popular phones, we view that as an anomaly driven by a combination of supply and popularity, she said. At present, we feel that we have done everything possible to ensure we have inventory to meet customer needs around the Droid X the proof will be in the execution on July 15.”

Indeed it will be.  It seems none of the major new smartphone unveilings in the past month or two has gone off without a hitch.  Apple has had numerous problems with the iPhone 4; first, a shortage, now the antenna issue that led Consumer Reports not to recommend it.

The shortages make you wonder why these carriers cant better anticipate the demand for these devices, especially when their competitors have shown them how not to do it.

The Droid X has received generally positive pre-reviews. It has a 4.3-inch screen, an improved camera compared to its Droid predecessors and runs on the upgraded Android 2.2 OS.