Sprint CEO Expects Palm Pre Shortages

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Sprint CEO Expects Palm Pre Shortages

More big talk about the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre from Sprint (NYSE: S), the device’s exclusive carrier, before its June 6 debut. “We’ll have shortages for a while,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told analysts at an industry conference, reports Dow Jones. In fact, the ailing carrier which is counting on the Pre to help slow the exodus of valuable contract customers to its rivals, believes that demand for the new device is strong enough that it won’t be running a “major advertising campaign” early on. If there are shortages, some analysts, as reported earlier, are putting it down to Palm deliberately keeping the supply down to create a “sell out” device.

Hesse went on to say that the Pre “stacks up extremely well” with the competition,being both a good consumer device, such as the iPhone, and a good business device, as compared to RIM’s Blackberrys. Said Hesse, “People have made compromises. [The Pre] is truly both a consumer and business device.” He also pointed out some of the iPhone’s disadvantages, including its inability to multitask, no removable battery, more expensive service, and AT&T’s smaller 3G coverage. And, it’s one big advantage—its App Store. Hesse said Palm and Sprint would also have a “strong library of applications.”

Hesse also spoke about Boost, its prepaid service that saw strong growth in the first quarter after Sprint introduced its unlimited voice and data plan for $50. He said that Boost wasn’t cannibalizing its core Sprint customers, and the number of subscribers scaling down to the prepaid service was in the “low single digits.”

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Dianne See Morrison May 20, 2009 6:27 AM ET

Posted In: Gadgets, Technologies / Formats, 3G, Companies, Palm, Sprint Nextel

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Dee Jay

I don't understand the hype. I went in this morning and there were plenty of Palm Pres available. I didn't camp out and got there about 20 minutes after the store opened. And I was told there was a small line of about 10 people when the store opened but that was it.

Mike

Went into a sprint store today and got jerked around by the store rep about people have been telling him that they will be camped out in front of the store all night. If I go into the store in the morning at 8 am when they open and they tell me that they dont have the phone then I'm gonna come back home buy a unlocked blackberry storm and go over to tmobile. Sprint is a joke for even being a company….

Semi-Marketing Genuis

LOL

Non-Marketing Geniuses

Previous poster is obviously an idiot. Getting worked up and flipping out on Sprint because you read some fluff posting on the Internet? Please, don't reproduce.

Marketing Geniuses

"If there are shortages, some analysts, as reported earlier, are putting it down to Palm deliberately keeping the supply down to create a âsell outâ device."

OK I am aware of this notion of limiting supply to increase buzz but let's think this through.

I am a customer salivating over the new iPhone but I am also intrigued by the Pre. So June 6 rolls around and I stroll into my Sprint store to check it out only to hear "Sorry we're sold out…this device is soooo hot." "When will you have more?" I ask. The rep responds "We don't know, I would check back with us in a week or so when we get our next shipment" So while I am being jerked around by this "false demand" scheme cooked up by the marketing geniuses at Sprint the new iPhone gets released. "Can I get one now?" I asked the AT&T retail rep. "Sure thing, here you go, we'll have you set-up in a few minutes"

So riddle me this Sprint Marketing folks, where do you strike the balance between getting that 'sold out buzz', and jerking around potential customers to the point that they just wait on the new iPhone (rumored to be released within weeks of the Pre). And remember you only have a six month window of exclusivity to work with so if you play this game wrong I'll just wait for Verizon to carry the device so I can have the Pre but a decent network to run it on.

While you scratch your heads over that one let me tell you about me (a potential Pre customer). Screw your cute little marketing tactics because I am not even going to play them. Just knowing that your artificially limiting supply is enough for me to not even waste my time venturing to your store to play your little game. I can wait a few weeks for the iPhone.