I wouldn't take too much notice of a so-called 'exclusivity deal' that's has the single source of one salesman at the Regent Street store. Remember all those salespeople who swore blind to a number of people that the n900 would ship on the 9th?

Amazon, Play etc all had deals to take preorders. Then they came to a point where they removed the device from search, and stopped taking pre-orders. My guess is that Nokia may have said they didn't want anyone else making general (non-pre-order) sales. More likely, I think the guy in Regent Street meant that you won't be able to buy it in Carphone Warehouse, Jag or Phone4U till January, which I think is fairly standard procedure.

If Amazon, Expansys and Play had a deal with Nokia for pre-orders, they'll get them. Maybe a week or two behind, but not delayed till January. Imagine if Play, Amazon etc all decided not to deal with Nokia in the future? Not a game they want to play.