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Palm may limit Pre supply to build buzz
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Palm may limit its stockpile of Pre smartphones at launch to fewer than 400,000 units, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The goal? Generate more buzz after the handset quickly sells out. 
The analysts said they expect Palm to have a stockpile of around 375,000 units at the device's debut (the figure is the median number of units the six analysts surveyed predicted). The effort to limit the number of devices could be a calculated move to mimic the launch of the iPhone 3G last summer, which sold over 1 million units in three days amdist shortages at Apple stores.
Palm, and its exclusive U.S. carrier partner Sprint Nextel, are banking on the Pre to be a major success. Palm hopes to revive its relevance as a player in the smartphone segment and Sprint is looking for a hit device to stem the tide of departing subscribers. Analysts concluded that the Pre launch is a make or break moment for Palm, and that the device's sales needed to live up to the hype that has been building around it.
The smartphone maker declined to discuss specific rollout plans for the Pre. "We're working really closely with our carrier partner on distribution," said Leslie Letts, a Palm spokeswoman.
In other Pre-related news, market researcher iSuppli concluded in a preliminary analysis that the Pre will cost about $138 to build. The firm said Palm is likely to sell the gadgets to Sprint for $300 each, and the carrier will then retail the Pres at $200 after a $100 subsidy. Palm also declined to comment on iSuppli's analysis.
And finally, the biggest unknown about the Pre is when it will launch. Some have pegged the launch at May 17, taking their cue from purportedly leaked internal Sprint documents. However, there is growing speculation that Palm may wait until June 7 to launch the Pre, a day before a likely Apple keynote address at its WWDC conference, when Apple might unveil the latest iPhone incarnation.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg News article
- see this iSuppli breakdown article
- see this Pre launch speculation post
Related Articles:
Sprint revving up Pre advertising
Video: Hands on demo of the Palm Pre
Palm sales drop in anticipation of Pre
Palm Pre vs. The iPhone
Palm responds to Apple's veiled threat of litigation
Apple sells 4.4M iPhones in Q1, warns competition
Palm reading: Will the Pre and webOS save Palm?
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | April 29, 2009 - 11:54am
Hyped Nonsense. If Palm doesn't start selling and earning soon and in big numbers, they'll run out of cash. Wonder what the real reasons are for a limited launch?
Posted by Anonymous | April 29, 2009 - 1:03pm
They are limiting the run because they know the stupids at Sprint can't sell, activate or support the phone.
It will be another Sprint dud like the "Endstink"
Posted by Anonymous | April 29, 2009 - 2:41pm
Palm is not running out of cash... have you seen there stock these days? It was $1.14 in December and over $10.00 today. What is that multiplier? I would say they have quite a bit of cash to put on a sustainable campaign. I do agree that they shouldn't play with fire in choosing a date in June. The disappointment would be devistating when it is trying to sell along side of the instant icon in the iPhone. If they start sale in May, it will give them a month of good return and the iPhone will come out at the end of June. This could be a one two punch, though, to Verizon and other CDMA competitors.
Posted by Snake Eyes | April 30, 2009 - 6:58am
The stock price has nothing to do with the cashflow, which is highly negative. The stock price is mere speculation - a guessing game, a role of the dice. In fact the stock is so lofty, it's looking like a nice short. But the float is thin as the majority of shares are owned by one gorila. If Pre don't sell, this baby's going down.
Posted by Stupid Cell Industry | May 1, 2009 - 10:30am
To me, this is totally rediculous. Why? Sprint needs to sell as many as they can as fast as they can. How many subcribers have they lost over just the last 2 years alone? Where are these sheeple's heads? Let's say they sell out in 1 week in June.
Now, people will just go to Apple (assuming that they have their new phones avail. in say July).
I would think Palm would be urging them to sell as many as possible. The ad industry has become such a joke. They remind me of high school softmores pranking around. This could be a very expensive prank. It takes more than mindshare and fast clipped ads on Fox to make a product go.
This distribution idea leaves less than 8,000 per state available. Very bad idea. Sprint marketing grade: F-.
Posted by Anonymous | May 11, 2009 - 3:57pm
Palm is deff. playing around with FIRE!! To risky to take chances like this. You know there WILL be bugs to get worked out after the release. Palm & Sprint are going to have some SERIOUS problems once a deal finalizes with Apple & Verizon
The Pre should have been release 9 months ago to workout the bugs and offer a new update a year later!!
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