Palm Brings Centro to Verizon Wireless

Palm (PALM) got a nice distribution boost Thursday in a deal with Verizon Wireless (VZ).

The companies said (statement) that Palm’s Centro–the one bright spot for Palm in a landscape of bleak news–will hit Verizon Wireless stores June 13.

The Centro has been a big hit for Palm, which is getting thumped by rivals such as Research in Motion and Apple. The Centro’s success is good news, but it dings profit margins because it’s $99. Meanwhile, Palm hasn’t been able to buffer the slim Centro margins with its Treo line, which needs a refresh.

Centro, which will be in cobalt blue, will run on Verizon’s high-speed network and can be used as a modem for Verizon’s BroadbandAccess Connect service. I’m a Verizon customer and basically use the phone as a modem and must admit that the Centro is in the running to be a replacement.

The Centro specs are the same as before, but for Palm the Verizon deal is a win. Palm made out pretty well with the Centro on Sprint, but it’s never good to hitch your wagon to one of the weaker wireless carriers.

Comments

[Joe Ranft:]

This is great news for PALM. I think the Centro is part of the reason AAPL lowered the price on the iPhone.

2008 Jun 12 02:51 PM

[stupid head:]

Because you are a vz customer your opinion does not matter.

2008 Jun 12 05:29 PM