Lots of excitement today over a second Palm WebOS device now that the Pre has launched. The only problem is that none of this is news. We broke the story about the device, code named Pixie, on April 29. A day later we had the Pixie name and additional details.
As far as I can tell there are no additional details coming out now. So I’ll supply additional information that we’ve gathered. Our sources in Asia tell us that Palm continues to push development of the device but is far from making a launch decision. “Palm has decided to put the Pixie on hold until they have better visibility into how its current models are selling in the market.”
Our guess is that low Pre sales rates make it less likely for the Pixie to hit the market this year. Palm’s WebOS is the best mobile operating system in existence, in our humble opinion. But the hardware is, at best, a B.
We’ve also heard from multiple sources that Palm initially ordered 500,000 units of the Palm Pre from Foxconn for delivery by the end of May. Instead, they got 150,000 units in June. The reason? “the device’s complicated mechanical design caused low yield rates.” The result was a delayed launch and poor supply.
first its not called pixie its called “eos”
next, your whole article revolves on when you said “low sale rates of pre.” and how it affects the “pixie”
that had nothing to do with demand. it was a supply issue.
oh and IT WILL LAUNCH with at&t in 2nd half of 2009. so that negates your entire article
basementdad is quite grumpy…
this is good news for preparing the market for the project i’m working on.
the semi-permanent state of “beta-version” rampant in web 2.0 services and software in general, now looks as if it’s beginning to invade the hardware arena as well… shame.
Isn’t it amazing what turn of events can take place? Appreciate you letting your readers know about this.
Low sales rate? For a subscription device on 1 of 4 carriers? Hardware is not your forte. Let’s talk again after the TC tablet launches.
Regarding Pixe, it’s the old, traditional form. I can see Palm trying to milk the Pre look and line as Apple has done with the iPhone rather than fragment marketing and even dev resources.
“Palm’s WebOS is the best mobile operating system in existence, in our humble opinion.”
Right. And you base this one what exactly?
…His opinion? It says it right there.
Opinions are suppose to be based on SOMETHING called an ARGUMENT. Otherwise a person is talking out of their a**.
Mike made a simply silly statement.
Read the reviews from the prominent sources. It’s been explained ad nauseum. Few will be so obtuse as to argue that WebOS isn’t superior to the alternative. Be a big boy and go read for yourself.
The low sales rate for Palm article was clearly premature. The stock has remained near or at the 52-week high since the article was posted. It would be prudent not to backlink to such articles unless its only to feed Google…which may entirely be the case.
Why can’t you just say “we reported on this earlier” instead of “none of this is news”? Time and time again, you guys just come across as purposefully arrogant.
PS. The only reason I even read something off TechCrunch was that I followed a short url from a tweet. I didn’t know it led to techcrunch.
Hmm…if Pre’s sales numbers really are disappointing, it’s definitely NOT because of shortages. All six Best Buys in my area (SF/Oakland) report available stocks of the Pre, and Best Buy was supposed to have the lowest stocks and sell out the quickest (since it offers $100 off instantly rather than having to futz around with a $100 rebate that you may or may not ever receive).
I’d really love to know where the analysts are getting their numbers from. When Palm announces its earnings, I bet we’ll all find out what the real numbers are.
An interesting task would be to figure out who Arrington’s source is. Sounds like someone with a vested interest to me. I don’t think anyone at Palm or Sprint would give this guy the time of day. If they are, then I question whether Palm or Sprint should continue to employ them.
As I understand it (I can’t find the link), there will be 3 WebOS devices … one for each major carrier, Sprint gets the Pre, Verizon gets the Pixie, and AT&T gets the EOS (@basementdad).
Each device is a different configuration. The Pre is the touchscreen handheld we now recognize, with a vertical slide-out keyboard. The Pixie is smaller and “candy bar shaped”, with a horizontal slide-out keyboard. And the EOS is similar to the Pre, except that its vertical keyboard is fixed, similar to configuration of the Tungsten series.
Apparently Palm is very comfortable with its level of sales of the Pre, describing it as being “on track” with their expectations. They acknowledge supply issues, apparently due to the incredibly small circuit board configurations and the difficulty of maintaining top drawer quality control within that structure, however supplies are being delivered and are in the pipeline to satisfy the current demand, which has been primarily (60%) Sprint customers who want to upgrade their device.
The rollout of the other two devices will rest not so much on whether WebOS takes off, but whether the market can handle two additional devices from Palm, and whether customers from the other carriers request enough of them.
Frankly, I think Palm has been doing a fine job with sales considering the brilliant (and dirty) trick Apple pulled on Pre launch day by dropping the price of the iPhone 1G down to $99. Since the Pre was being promoted as an iPhone challenger, many of those who would have purchased one because of its pricing shifted over to the “genuine” iPhone as a result, undercutting potential Pre sales.
According to any data I have seen, iPhone purchasers typically (not all) make their decision to buy an iPhone not because of its technical advantages, of which there are almost none, but because of it’s “cool” factor. So when Apple started dumping $99 iPhones of ANY type onto the market, even when those phones are outdated, those “vanity” purchasers saw their opportunity to join what they percieve to be the “in crowd” and did so, which is no reflection on the excellence of the Palm product.
I much rather the Pre’s looks and OS although I’m leaning towards the iPhone purely on the applications available. This is what will make or break the Pre.
Good thing they didn’t produce any more Pre since Palm only sold an average of 11 per store and have only a few dozen stores. That leaves them with several years supply at 150,000.
Per Fortune the opening US sales were 45-55,000 unit with 25-45 units per retail location which sold out within 1-3 hours after opening. Analysts sales projections are 470,000 for the quarter and 2 million for the year.
Palm shares dipped heavily earlier in the week but rebounded and broke the $14 barrier.
That’s really good considering the size of Palm. It’s difficult comparing Apple iPhone and Palm Pre rollouts given the disparity in company sizes, marketing spend, and leveraging of spring-board products.
Put it this way, Apple leveraged it’s goodwill and branding from it’s already successful iPod line. Apple had already been on the upswing for years with solid products and proven roll outs. It had plenty of cash on hand to tackle a new product. Plus it’s product, the iPhone, included it’s already popular iPod brand/technology.
Contrast that with Palm, a much smaller company, which has been struggling for years. Low brand recognition, no breakout products, low stock price, layoffs, slipping market share, finite capital to rollout new products, etc.,.
In spite of the disparity Palm is projected to sell a quarter of a million units in the first quarter of sales which parallels Apples iPhone sales (Apple sold a little over a quarter of a million iPhone it’s opening quarter http://en.wikip...per_quarter.svg).
Michael Arrington is a n00b. he sadz b3c@us3 m0mmy d1dnt g3t h1m a pr3.
You guys are out of your friggin minds. The Pre sold out nationwide. There are waiting lists that have already filled next week’s new shipment. The Pre set an all-time sales record for Sprint and it has been out for a few weeks. For a company that everyone counted out, and on the brink of irrelevancy, I’d say it did as well as anyone could have hoped. The issue here WAS supply. Palm is not Apple. It’s years of stagnation have depleted its cash reserves and it simply can’t incur the same risk as Apple. Therefore, they limited supply to see how consumers would react to their new phone and OS. They SOLD OUT. How can you make a claim of “low Pre sales rate”? You must be out of your damn mind.
Let’s see some sources for this claim, because this article is the only place I’ve seen make this claim. Everywhere I’ve read has said that the Pre set a record for Sprint and is sold out. How much better can they do? Clearly they can’t sell more units than they have on supply.
Listening to Techcrunch talk about the Pre is like listening to Keith Obermann and Rush Limbaugh talk about each other. Blah, blah, blah. Empty chest thumping when there’s nothing to write. Skewed facts when real facts don’t fit the story.
You guys really don’t do this reporting thing very well. Tell me how you confirmed the delivery of 150k Pre’s in June and then I’ll think about being impressed. Truth is, no one knows. You’re guessing…. and I’m guessing that you’re wrong.
if you ask me, low sales of the PRE are attributed to the stupid Sprint decision to require an everything plan in order to activate this phone..
I for one would have a PRE right now if I could get one for use on my current plan… I don’t want unlimited everything… I just want my shared minute plan and a cool phone..
I think Sprint is cutting off their nose to spite their face. I’m sure there are lots of folks out there that would like to have the PRE, but don’t need an everything plan.
Strych9:
The PRE is a WEB BASED PHONE. In other words, you MUST have the everything plan because it needs to send constant data streams to the servers that store the phones information.
In yet other words, the PRE wouldn’t function correctly without a constant internet connection, thus the reason for the Everything plan (which btw, is a great deal)…
To put this simply. I know phones…. trust me. Mike sums up the pre amazingly accurate.
This is a great description:
” Palm’s WebOS is the best mobile operating system in existence, in our humble opinion. But the hardware is, at best, a B.”
the ability to merge all contacts and multitask is disgustingly above and beyond. every day i use it im more and more amazed by the operating system and thought that was put into it. THe phone is a cool little design, however it lacks in some areas,but in my opinion which is most likely right- it outweighs the negatives of the hardware.
Keyboard could be larger, but its better than typing on a screen.
No arrow keys for moving around up down left right etc.
Its nice plastic, but could be used out of better material.
However, those are just the cons and not all of the pros that i could list for days on in. I;m very amazed by the palm pre and i can’t wait till they start popping out other models.
BTW , ive used all models of phones, windows mobile, blackberry, etc. all very extensively and this has by far the best OS.
No, it’s the demand that’s at issue here. People are just not hot for Pre.
Well they are sold out just about anywhere you go. Score one for supply-side issues.
What evidence do YOU have?