As reports circulate suggesting that electronics retailer Best Buy will get a limited supply of Palm Pre units June 7, one industry analyst weighs in on Palm’s launch strategy. Based on the limited information at hand, he says Palm needs to focus on capturing Sprint customers — and on apps.
It’s not clear if June 7 would be the launch date or simply a limited release, as 4,500 Pre models are on tap to be distributed evenly to each Best Buy store selling mobile devices, according to the blog Boy Genius Report.
Speculation is running rampant on the Web over details regarding the Palm Pre and the embattled company’s new mobile platform webOS due to three factors. First, there’s intense competition in the smartphone market, as nearly every major handset maker is introducing signature models this summer.
Second, Palm’s fate relies on the do-or-die Pre and early impressions are positive, generating buzz that it could be an ‘iPhone killer.’
Finally, Palm and Sprint have released scant information on the launch details. Keeping the public guessing usually works in building buzz.
What Palm is saying is that the Palm Pre is set to ship in the first half of the year by Sprint. This is prompting speculation by industry watchers that Palm may roll out the Pre in May to avoid overlapping with the highly anticipated release of any new iPhones, rumored to be unveiled between June 8 and 12 at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference.
“It would be silly to compete head on with Apple in the press. Why stir up a hornets’ nest? Palm should make sure they do a good job at Sprint and capture all the customers they can. Apple isn’t there and so they should not be a concern. If Palm does well at Sprint, it will get developers and more operators to support them,” Ken Dulaney, mobile analyst at Gartner, told InternetNews.com.
Meanwhile, regardless of the actual launch date, if reports are true, new customers with a two-year contract, would pay $199.99 for the Pre, while existing customer upgrades would cost $299, close to the basic Apple iPhone model price tag of $199. But is that competitive enough to entice customers who may not necessarily be Palm fans?
Dulaney thinks so, but with caveats. “Sure it will, but at Sprint only. Customers are only going to consider Sprint if they have a relationship with Sprint for now. Palm has to make sure they execute at Sprint. Once they do, if there are no bugs and there are satisfied users, then developers will come and more operators will want them. Focus, focus, focus,” he said.
Next page: More Pre models in the works?
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At the same time, two other unconfirmed reports are circulating that a lower-cost version of the Pre, dubbed Pixie and priced at $100, would be out a few months after the Pre. Another unit, the EOS, could be priced at $349 excluding any carrier rebates, is also rumored to be on tap.
The GSM/HSDPA EOS phone, seen as the successor to the Pre, also runs on the new Palm webOS and reportedly features a 2.6-inch, 320 x 400 display, 2-megapixel camera, cellular video and 4GB of storage, according to the blog Engadget Mobile.
Palm execs have said they intend to roll out a whole ecosystem based on its new mobile operating system, webOS, so it’s not surprising that one or two other handsets are in the queue for release this year to cover different price points.
Still, Dulaney said successful roll out for Palm really depends on carriers and apps. “If they want more operators in the U.S. they will have to have more models. Operators wont take the same exact model. They want differentiation. The rebate price is what matters, and it better be close to the iPhone. And then it comes down to applications. What has Palm got? They should have announced something by now,” said Dulaney.
Palm has not announced much in terms of new apps, though it did announce an OS emulator, that will allow the Pre to run most applications designed for Palm’s earlier operating system, called Palm OS. Palm has said it’s positioning the emulator as a tool to facilitate the switch to its new webOS mobile platform, saying “it gives users peace of mind as they transition.”
Palm declined to comment on any Pre or EOS reports, except to say it is happy with the response it got when inviting people on the company blog to sign on as reviewers. “Eos reporting has all been based on rumors, and Palm doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation.” The same goes for the Pre release date. All Palm has confirmed is that Pre’s on track for the first half of 2009.
“The Real Reviewers program has indeed received a great response, not only on Palm’s blog, Facebook and Twitter channels, but also in the blogosphere at large. The survey closed last Friday, and Palm will be contacting the chosen participants this Friday, May 8,” a Palm spokesperson told InternetNews.com.
