I think that very unlikely. The two are attractiving very different markets: people jumping ship from the n900 are more likely to go to one of the competitors than an n97, so Nokia loses.

Can't we take them at their word? Following the handout of the 300, they are finalising the release firmware ready for sale.

My suspicion is that the numbers pre-orders made them realise it need to be more 'Joe Public ready' than they initially planned, and the 300 reflected that it's not. Yet.