Sprint CEO Expects Palm Pre Shortages for a While
Sprint Nextel expects strong Palm Pre sales when it debuts on June 6, so much that CEO Dan Hesse has warned investors that there may be shortages.
“We don’t intend to advertise it heavily early on because we think we are going to have shortages for a while,” Hesse said. “We won’t be able to keep up with demand for the device in the early period of time.”
Sprint will be the exclusive U.S. wireless carrier for the Palm Pre through the end of the year. The first smartphone to use Palm’s webOS is expected to help Sprint stop customer losses and let Palm wrest more of the smartphone market from Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.
$549 Without a Service Plan
Sprint will offer the Palm Pre for $199.99 after a mail-in rebate and with a two-year service agreement that appears less costly than AT&T’s iPhone plan. Without a service plan, the Palm Pre will cost $549. Best Buy says it will offer the Pre for $199.99 with a two-year Sprint plan without the need to mail in a rebate. Radio Shack and Wal-Mart will also carry the Pre.
Palm’s stock price fell Tuesday as some investors expressed disappointment that the $199.99 price only matches AT&T’s price for the 8GB iPhone rather than undercut it. Shares in Palm were trading around $10.70 at noon Eastern time Wednesday after rising from $3.30 in January in anticipation of the Pre’s debut.
The Palm Pre will launch just two days before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, where announcements are expected to include a new iPhone and a lower price for AT&T’s iPhone service, possibly from $69 to $59 a month, but with limited service.
Sprint’s rates for a two-year Palm Pre plan are similar to AT&T’s, but with text messaging included. AT&T charges extra for text.
Developers Are the Key
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