Palm Pre rebate flying under the radar, and why the Pre won’t sell out

Tue, May 19, 2009

Analysis, News

Isn’t it funny how people craft all sorts of fancy graphs depicting the supposed real cost of the iPhone over the lifespan of a 2 year contract, but the fact that you’ll have to shell out $300 bucks to get the Palm Pre has flown under the radar?  Sure, there’s a $100 mail-in rebate, but there’s no skirting around the fact that rebates flat out blow.

Also, and you can quote me on this, I predict that the Palm Pre will not sell-out, despite statements from Palm executives which would indicate otherwise.  The Pre will evidently be in low supply when it hits stores on June 6, but given the fact that people won’t really be switching carriers to get their hands on the Pre, I doubt that the demand will outstrip supply.  Also, it doesn’ thelp that Sprint lags behind both AT&T and Verizon when it comes to sheer number of subscribers.

Don’t get me wrong, the Palm Pre looks to be an extremely slick device, but its entering the race late in the game with a product that isn’t all that different from the current offerings available from Apple and RIM.  Unless multi-tasking is as blazingly fast as is depicted in demonstration videos (early reports indicate that it’s not) and has mind-blowing battery life, the Pre will be available for all to enjoy and purchase for the entire month of June.  It might sell well enough to keep Palm in business, but not well enough to become a huge hit.

Am I being too harsh?  Drop a comment below and let me know what ya think.

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3 Comments For This Post

  1. beezer Says:

    all valid points. i am anxious to see how it does a month or two from launch–OS bugs, defects, etc. one quick note, it is now 199 w/ 2-yr; i think they nixed the rebate. personally, i wish palm would eat the first week sales and offer the pre for free w/ 2-yr.

  2. sprint customer Says:

    wrong, wrong and wrong.

  3. Pre-repentance Says:

    Look who just looks absolutely stupid

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