Palm Pre fever heats up ahead of launch

With less than two weeks to launch, analysts are warning of the potentially unrealistic expectations Palm shareholders have for the Pre. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Palm's share price likely will fall in the wake of the launch. And analysts are expecting Palm to post a loss in the next two fiscal years, but revenue is expected to double during that period, according to Dow Jones.

In other Pre news, Engadget posted what appears to be Sprint Nextel's business/executive launch guide for the phone. The 21-page document includes details about the phone and features a chart comparing the Pre to other top smartphones, including Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm.

Further, according to the Engadget, Best Buy is listing the unsubsidized, "regular" price for the phone at $850. The retailer is selling the phone for $199.99 with a two-year Sprint contract. Thus, the pricing suggests a heavy subsidy from Sprint for the phone.

For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article [1] (sub. req.)
- see this article [2] on the launch details
- see this post [3] on subsidies

Related Articles:
Sound off: Palm Pre [4]
Sprint to launch Palm Pre June 6 [5]
Bell Mobility to launch Palm Pre in Canada in second half of 2009 [6]
Palm may limit Pre supply to build buzz [7]
Sprint revving up Pre advertising [8]
[9]