Sprint's newest phone, the Instinct, is proving to be a popular handset. According to Sprint, it is the fastest selling EVDO handset in the company's history. In fact, Sprint's supply chain is being challenged to keep the phone in stock.Despite mixed reviews, the Instinct is proving to be popular with Sprint users. In fact, Sprint fanboys have rallied around the touch-screen device in droves. In a press release issued this morning, Sprint notes, "The record pace of Instinct sales has led to temporary shortages of the device at some locations across the United States. Sprint and Samsung are diligently working around the clock to increase inventory in all sales channels. Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand."

The Instinct was first made available to existing customers on June 19. It became generally available June 20, just last Friday. Though it is being snapped up in droves, Sprint did not release exact -- or even estimated -- sales figures.

Several factors likely are playing into the device's apparent success with Sprint customers. One, the price. The Instinct is selling for $130. It offers a lot of phone for that kind of money. Second, Sprint doesn't have anything else in its line-up that really competes internally with the Instinct. It is hands-down the best multimedia device in Sprint's portfolio of devices.

"We had high expectations going into the launch, so our initial order to Samsung was the largest for any Sprint EVDO handset to date," said John Garcia, president of Sprint's Wireless Division in a prepared statement. "The strong early response tells us that wireless customers recognize Instinct as a highly innovative and convenient touch-screen device combined with the fast speeds available on the largest national mobile broadband network. In the first few days of availability, many Instinct devices were purchased by existing customers upgrading their wireless device -- we thank our customers for their endorsement of this device, our Simply Everything pricing plan, and our company."

What's most interesting is to see what early adopters of the Instinct are doing with it. Initial indications show extremely heavy use of the device for e-mail access, Web browsing, and GPS navigation with Live Search for Sprint providing access to directory information on-the-go, interactive maps, and one-touch click-to-call access.

In other words, users are going for Web content. Big surprise.