The Pre Will Launch Days Before a Likely iPhone Buzz Saw

By MG Siegler

The Palm Pre’s official launch date is set to be unveiled Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal. But it looks like the New York Times may have one-upped its rival with a story Monday giving a launch window for the device. While it doesn’t give an exact date, NYT reports that Sprint (S) will be released in the first week of June, citing people briefed with the company’s plans.

And the story goes on to say that Apple (AAPL) could launch a new iPhone on June 8 (the WWDC keynote), which would be “just a few days” after the Pre’s launch. While earlier rumors had the device launching on June 7, the day before WWDC, newer reports have suggested the date could be June 5 — that seems more in line with the “few days” statement, though it’s possible NYT doesn’t know the exact date.

Either way, the Pre’s launch hype looks likely to run into a shiny buzz saw that is the iPhone. And while a spokesperson for Palm (PALM) tells the Times that the Pre isn’t a “bet-the-company device,” given the amount of money the company is losing, there’s a wide belief that if the device is not a success, Palm will be in very serious trouble. Palm is also working on a second, smaller device that will run its new webOS, we learned a few weeks ago. But that device is unlikely before the Fall or late 2009.

The other big variable still unknown about the Pre is its pricing. It seems likely that it will be around the $199 that the iPhone is after subsidy, but the details of a recent survey suggest that Palm thinks the Pre is worth $542.01, which is ludicrous.

Original post

Comments

[Aryamehr:]

There is absolutely nothing but hyperbole to come from the iPhone on June 7! The Pre will manifest its superiority by a wide margin. All those iPhone fans will just have to accept the facts when the Pre is launched, spin will no longer suffice, Apple is going to have to go into high gear and catch up. They are going to have to come up with more than a few one liners, such as their App. Store is more developed, they have more games, etc. The results by the experts on the first week of June will finally put the iPhone & ATT fans in their place. Reality will manifest itself and you can rest assured the Palm will be far from a let down.

May 18 03:10 PM

[brewer:]

All the Apple haters (Microsoft fanbois who have been literally run over by the Mac's resurgence combined with steller iPod and iPhone devices with which Microsoft has had no credible answer) will buy the Pre. There are a lot of these guys. But there aren't enough to make the Pre more than a blip on the radar.

Pre is a wannabe iPhone, coming along 2 years late. All it 'adds' is multitasking, which the iPhone smartly turns off because multiple apps will kill the battery much faster, and there isn't really screen real estate on such a small device to have more than one app running at a time anyhow. Besides, it looks like a dud, and it isn't an iPod. So you would have to carry your iPod AND the Pre. Also, as even a total fanboi like Aryamehr pointed out, there are NO APPS for it.

May 18 03:45 PM

[Twodales:]

What planet are you coming from? Absolutely delusional.


On May 18 03:10 PM Aryamehr wrote:

> There is absolutely nothing but hyperbole to come from the iPhone
> on June 7! The Pre will manifest its superiority by a wide margin.
> All those iPhone fans will just have to accept the facts when the
> Pre is launched, spin will no longer suffice, Apple is going to have
> to go into high gear and catch up. They are going to have to come
> up with more than a few one liners, such as their App. Store is more
> developed, they have more games, etc. The results by the experts
> on the first week of June will finally put the iPhone & ATT fans
> in their place. Reality will manifest itself and you can rest assured
> the Palm will be far from a let down.

May 18 03:46 PM

[oljoey:]

I'm betting Palm will out of business or sold to Microsoft within a year. Just too late to the game. Apple has too big a halo from the iPod and success of the early iPhones to loose ground now. Not to mention the fact that the App store has "an app for everything" and all the developers are on board. With more smart phone OS's being released developers can only develop for so many of them.. and you know Apple and RIM are going to be the ones at the top. Microsoft and maybe a few other heavies will get developers onboard but Palm will be left out in the end.

May 18 03:48 PM

[waf76:]

How soon before Sprint starts offering up buy one Pre get one Free? This phone gets so much publicity and is dead on arrival.

May 18 03:50 PM

[marv08:]

Well, if Palm would have so much confidence in their offering, they would release it after the Apple announcement to steal the thunder. This would be a great strategy, as Apple is likely not going to immediately ship whatever they announce. Releasing a device three days before the major competitor releases a new device with a yet unknown feature set is risky. It even gives Apple and AT&T time to make last minute price and rate plan adjustments.

May 18 03:51 PM

[Nextel Acce...:]

is AT&T really going to gain market share with the new iPhone or just mostly get upgrades for existing users?

May 18 03:53 PM

[User 416076:]

Coming up on the end of my 2 year Sprint contract with my Palm 755p, I can firmly say I will be dumping it and never buying another Palm product again. Once Palm gets a phone in your hands, that's it. There's no upgrades, no support, nothing. Why should I think any of that will change with the Pre? The 755p runs a browser that makes Netscape's first attempt look high tech. It has no support for Java or Flash, and no programmers are interested in writing applications for Palm's native OS. At least the Palms running WinMo have some support in that regard. Sorry Palm, too little too late.

May 18 05:04 PM

[SharonW:]

To the author of the article regarding this statement:

"The other big variable still unknown about the Pre is its pricing. It seems likely that it will be around the $199 that the iPhone is after subsidy, but the details of a recent survey suggest that Palm thinks the Pre is worth $542.01, which is ludicrous."

I don't think the survey suggested that at all. I think your facts are screwed up or you're mischaracterizing them. The survey conducted by iSuppli suggested that the parts cost of the Pre was $138 which is less than the iPhone and the Blackberry. The $542.01 price was guessimated by bloggers from the Sprint Palm Pre give away sweepstakes which included the Touchstone charger and one-year of a free Everything Plan. They basically subtracted the cost of the one-year plan and the known cost of the Touchstone ($70) from the total worth of the prize. That price would be UNSUBSIDIZED.

All cellphone carriers subsidize the costs of cellphones. How else do you think you get some for free? I believe the unsubsidized price of the iPhone is $599, but you get it from AT&T with a 2-year contract for $199, no? A $599 iPhone compares perfectly to a $542 Pre given the cost of the parts.

May 18 05:24 PM

[Rg2:]

Palm needs what America, herself, needs now and going forward: A comeback. Both are on their knees and vulnerable currently. The only way either is going to resurge is to innovate its way out of their respective slumps.

There are many who say Palm is too late to the market-relevance party, a once-respected originator of PDA wizardry who lost her way, lost her paranoia with regard to the competition, and fell victim to value migration. Does this sound a bit like America's story?

They both lost their fear. And fear is a powerful driver of excellence.

Steven Jobs, as great as he is, has fear in abundance. The perpetual, ever-evolving pace of tecnological change necessitates that technology companies constantly look over their shoulder while keeping a keen eye to market leadership. Fact is, no one or two companies should dominate a market (APPL, RIMM), where consumers are deprived of the innovation of their brethren, of competition.

I love APPL products, and RIMM products, and various others, because the competition among them makes them all better--and we, consumers, the better for it. I love Palm, probably more for its story, its underdog position, more than anything.

As an investor, I'm cautious to remove emotion from an investment decision; therefore, I don't want to invest in PALM based on sentiment, but with logical, having-researched-the-... common sense. Yet, still, I'm rooting for the "little tech that could" as a metaphor for America herself.

I want GM and Chrysler to make breathtaking, emotive, roadworthy vehicles again (like Ford is doing with the 2010 Taurus and Fusion hybrid). Like PALM, many have said the door has closed on the American carmakers, their market relevance and American consumer trust evaporated--while China and India et al salivate at the prospect of ever-increasing world-markets share.

Everyone's at liberty to be partisan consumers, to patronize a favored brand or company. But when some actually "root" for the demise of a home-grown American company such as a PALM--the many jobs and tax base the company represents--it's an interesting commentary, no?

Surely, the market rewards innovators, deft managers, superior companies, and the market will have its say on PALM; does it have the chops to compete with the behemoths? Perhaps, perhaps not.

For sure, it has the audacity to try.

I'm pulling for PALM not simply for my inconsequential investment in the company (no matter what it does, I won't get rich). I'm pulling for it vicariously as I'm pulling for America herself.

We need our companies to compete and succeed, all of them. When China or India become the dominant players on the world market, that's not good for America, no? Just as when AAPL or RIMM become the dominant forces . . . .

PALM needs what America needs right now: A Comeback. I'm pulling for both.

May 18 05:27 PM

[Prescience:]

I hate anything that is Microsoft oriented and that is why I have always bought everything from Apple. This does not mean that I have to love ATT and be unreasonable when I see a better platform. The Pre is unquestionably a better phone than my iPhone and I will buy it regardless of the misinformation out there. When the iPhone brings to the market a better phone I will consider buying another iPhone but that will be down the road. Kudos to Palm for producing a wonderful product. All my friends are also predisposed to Apple and carry iPhones but the majority of them have indicated that they too will be buying Pres.

May 18 05:34 PM

[SharonW:]

On comeback kids, I can't agree with you more. People seem to forget that Apple was a comeback kid having once been given up for dead.

Frankly, both AT&T and Apple seem to be running a bit scared ahead of the Pre. I've been reading multiple articles about price drops for service and the iPhone. There was an analyst just on Fast Money that said AT&T was even considering a voice-only plan for the iPhone. How freakin' absurd is that? Why would anyone buy an iPhone only for phone calls? LOL


On May 18 05:27 PM Rg2 wrote:

> Palm needs what America, herself, needs now and going forward: A
> comeback. Both are on their knees and vulnerable currently. The only
> way either is going to resurge is to innovate its way out of their
> respective slumps.
>
> There are many who say Palm is too late to the market-relevance party,
> a once-respected originator of PDA wizardry who lost her way, lost
> her paranoia with regard to the competition, and fell victim to value
> migration. Does this sound a bit like America's story?
>
> They both lost their fear. And fear is a powerful driver of excellence.
>
>
> Steven Jobs, as great as he is, has fear in abundance. The perpetual,
> ever-evolving pace of tecnological change necessitates that technology
> companies constantly look over their shoulder while keeping a keen
> eye to market leadership. Fact is, no one or two companies should
> dominate a market (APPL, RIMM), where consumers are deprived of the
> innovation of their brethren, of competition.
>
> I love APPL products, and RIMM products, and various others, because
> the competition among them makes them all better--and we, consumers,
> the better for it. I love Palm, probably more for its story, its
> underdog position, more than anything.
>
> As an investor, I'm cautious to remove emotion from an investment
> decision; therefore, I don't want to invest in PALM based on sentiment,
> but with logical, having-researched-the-... common sense. Yet, still,
> I'm rooting for the "little tech that could" as a metaphor for America
> herself.
>
> I want GM and Chrysler to make breathtaking, emotive, roadworthy
> vehicles again (like Ford is doing with the 2010 Taurus and Fusion
> hybrid). Like PALM, many have said the door has closed on the American
> carmakers, their market relevance and American consumer trust evaporated--while
> China and India et al salivate at the prospect of ever-increasing
> world-markets share.
>
> Everyone's at liberty to be partisan consumers, to patronize a favored
> brand or company. But when some actually "root" for the demise of
> a home-grown American company such as a PALM--the many jobs and tax
> base the company represents--it's an interesting commentary, no?
>
>
> Surely, the market rewards innovators, deft managers, superior companies,
> and the market will have its say on PALM; does it have the chops
> to compete with the behemoths? Perhaps, perhaps not.
>
> For sure, it has the audacity to try.
>
> I'm pulling for PALM not simply for my inconsequential investment
> in the company (no matter what it does, I won't get rich). I'm pulling
> for it vicariously as I'm pulling for America herself.
>
> We need our companies to compete and succeed, all of them. When China
> or India become the dominant players on the world market, that's
> not good for America, no? Just as when AAPL or RIMM become the dominant
> forces . . . .
>
> PALM needs what America needs right now: A Comeback. I'm pulling
> for both.

May 18 05:40 PM

[Frank Castle:]

What is amusing is people still don't grasp the fact not everyone WANTS an iPhone.

Face reality - the device has been on a downward trend for months and whatever they announce is not going to just reverse that. Apple needs to dump at&t and I doubt Verizon is willing to sub the same and agree to the same deal so they are stuck taking their margin and dealing with at&t or going for larger user base. Apple has never been about market share as they value margin and control over everything.

Palm will have a device out early June and Apple will announce a new iPhone(s) for late summer. Sounds like Sprint / Palm can definately sell some devices as Sprint has an agressive all in one price point.

May 18 09:11 PM

[marv08:]

@Frank Castle: Are you dreaming? This is from April-22nd: "AT&T said 1.6 million Apple iPhone customers had activated services on the AT&T network during the quarter, more than 40 percent of whom were new to the telephone operator." Btw, Sprint was loosing 1.3 million customers in approx. the same timeframe. Apple's own FY Q2 2009 result (Jan-Mar): iPhone and Related Products & Services year-over-year revenue up 302%, units up 123%... Downward trend? Face reality.

May 18 11:40 PM

[SharonW:]

Judging from the lack of dispute on facts, but the great amount of negative feedback my posts gleaned, it would appear that there are a lot of really pissed off shorts here. Can't say I blame them after a day like yesterday or the last month for that matter. :D And with 29% of the stock being shorted, man, if they're wrong we'll see a squeeze the likes of the banks and the "stress test."

May 19 02:35 AM

[marv08:]

@SharonW: I can't speak for the negative voters, but as your statement was pretty reasonable (even if I do not fully agree), I simply assume that people are a bit annoyed with your quoting the entire Declaration of Independence plus the entire UN Charter of Capitalism, Ulysses, Mason & Dixon and Hamlet, just to comment on something entirely different... :-)

There definitely is a problem with the Apple & AT&T set-up. Mobile phones normally become substantially cheaper after some time on the market... Whatever Apple has done here, maintaining pricing for an almost 12 month old cell does not work (especially while every paper and blog is discussing the successor). As AT&T is obviously not authorized (or too challenged) to officially lower the price of the device... they have to play all kind of funny games to bring the price down. I assume (but do not know if) Apple is to blame here, this is a part of the cellphone business they have not quite understood yet, if you give people an "old" device with a 24-month contract, better lower the price! I do not see it as a "pre"-panic or a real problem though.

May 19 03:38 AM