Palm feeling pressure to release the Pre ASAP, WWDC to blame?

Wed, Apr 29, 2009

Finance, News

We still have no clue as to when the Palm Pre is exactly gonna drop, but we do know that it’ll be sometime before the end of June.

Now, PalmWebOS Blog is reporting, citing a contact who works at Sprint headquarters, that “the pressure to release the device quickly is unbelievable”, and that the new tentative release date for the device is May 31.

Apple’s WWDC is scheduled to begin a week later on June 8, and it makes sense that Palm would want to release the Pre as far ahead of the WWDC as they can.  Some other reports have Palm releasing the Pre on June 7, just one day before the WWDC, and if Steve Jobs makes a surprise appearance (it will be June after all), then the Pre will likely to fall off the tech radar real quick.

Apple has a way of amassing hype and attracting media attentoin like no other, and its announcements can even overshadow entire conventions.  Remember CES 2007?  Yeah, neither do we.  It’s go time for Palm, and I imagine they’re pissed/worried/annoyed that they have to compete with a dang developers conference of all things.

On a related note, Bloomberg is reporting that Palm might limit its initial stockpile of Palm Pre’s in order to drive demand and build up its “allure.”  A sell-out would undoubtedly help build up some buzz for the device, but at this point, we think Palm should be more concerned with making $ than generating buzz.

Lastly, you can check out what appear to be iPhone inspired screenshots of the Palm Pre over here.

Related: Why iPhone users won’t flock to the Palm Pre come June

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