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Verizon kicks Palm when it's down, stops promoting the Pre Plus

Verizon kicks Palm when it's down, stops promoting the Pre Plus

Posted: 22 Mar 2010, 12:38, by Alan F.

Categories: AT&T AT&T Verizon Verizon Sprint Sprint Unofficial Unofficial HP HP QWERTY QWERTY Touch Touch Pre Pre webOS webOS Featured Featured Bookmark

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This article contains unofficial information.

Verizon kicks Palm when it's down, stops promoting the Pre Plus

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Things are not going well for Palm. It's hard to believe that when the Pre was introduced last year, things looked so promising for the manufacturer. Now, the stock is down to $4, the Pre and Pixi have been flops at Sprint, enhanced versions of both failed to sell at Verizon despite high hopes, and AT&T is having problems while testing the pair of webOS phones for its network. So, you ask, what else can go wrong? How about Verizon deciding to pull the plug on promoting the Pre? According to the Examiner, Big Red will stop promoting the Pre at the end of the month. The site's tipster says people are coming into Verizon stores with the Pre in mind, but are flipped to the Android flavored Motorola DROID by reps. In L.A., industry analyst Paul Mueller blames several defective Palm units for some of the problem. Mueller says, "When a device gets returned, people hear about it. It may not be publicized in the media, but word-of mouth is powerful." But there is no question that the DROID has taken many possible sales away from the Palm units. With a much larger hi-res screen, many more apps available, solid construction and the free turn-by-turn navigation, the Android device has become Verizon's flagship model. The carrier's initial spots for the Pre focused on how the smartphone was perfect for "Mom" and the gender specific ads might also have been part of the problem. By the time Big Red changed the focus of the campaign, it was already too late. So now what ELSE can happen to Palm?

Palm Pre Plus Specifications | Review
Palm Pixi Plus Specifications | Review
Motorola DROID Specifications | Review

source: Examiner

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1. kid.wonderbread posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:45 0 0

Palm made a huge mistake by not reinventing the Pre when it came to Verizon. WebOS is pretty nice, but the hardware just can't compete.

19. Striker13084 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 17:32 0 0

also when reps are being punished for return rates and the phone comes back every time, why should they sell a phone that is going to affect their money. maybe palm should have made a better device, unlike older models its another crappy palm. I guess it is just survival of the fittest.

31. DOGIEFRESH posted on 23 Mar 2010, 19:02 0 0

The real mistake was making the CDMA first, am sure many people all over the world where interested in but what is good for Sprint and VZW is not for the rest of the world who uses HSPA...!!!

2. ajac09 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 12:45 0 0

funny how you say it flopped at sprint yet sprint reporting and palm reporting pres were one of the best selling sprint devices last year.. yeah what a flop your morons here!

11. herbiederb posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:44 0 0

keywords "last year".. and more specifically last summer.

14. crappypunk posted on 22 Mar 2010, 15:14 0 0

also keywords!! "best selling sprint device" which means they sold 2 :)

16. phone333 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 15:30 0 0

...and also keywords!! "crappypunk".

3. BrokenImaege posted on 22 Mar 2010, 12:46 0 0

Palm = Game over Best bet for Palm would be to just develop OS at this point and let other manufactures build the hardware. Possibly get themselves bought out by Nokia, Samsung, or LG for Web OS. Thanks for playing Palm. RIP.

28. jedi2000 posted on 23 Mar 2010, 10:56 0 0

I agree "Game over man!"

4. desertmike680 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 12:50 0 0

I feel bad for Palm. The hype that surrounded the Pre's debut for June 6th's launch for Sprint was ridiculous. I have never seen that many people lined up in our Sprint Service Center ever. I hope they can turn around. They've played a key part in the wireless industry for many years.

22. chupum posted on 22 Mar 2010, 23:08 0 0

I agree with your statement. It makes it worse that Palm has created an operating system that is better at multitasking than anything out there! Well at least in my opinion that is... They just needed a chance... :sigh:: I guess the world will continue to spin.

5. JeffdaBeat posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:06 0 0

I feel bad for Palm and I honestly don't think it will make a recovery. I was talking to a few of my phone tech geeky friends and the problem Palm is facing is too much competition. There are reasons why the other OS's are popular. Blackberry held their market for years in business with their guarenteed safty. When RIM moved the Blackberries to be more consumer friendly, everyone wanted a Blackberry because it made them a little more classy. iPhones are just the thing to have. Android is doing well because has stood to be the direct competitor for the iPhone. And Windows 7 Phone has the money of Microsoft behind it. Where does that leave Palm? Thing is, even if they had the best device in the world, Palm has to compete with a lot of other OS's. And this is all relatively new because just two or three years ago, consumers weren't buying Smartphones. So the question is how to overcome that? I don't think it is possible. The iPhone alternative has been named Android. So where does it fit after that? I think Verizon killed the WebOS with the way they advertised the Pre. Maybe if Palm leases the OS to different manufacturers?

15. crappypunk posted on 22 Mar 2010, 15:17 0 0

when you say "phone tech geeky friends" do you mean you were talking to yourself? .. because that's what it means to me :(

29. JeffdaBeat posted on 23 Mar 2010, 14:43 0 0

No...luckily, I have at least a few friends who also work in the cellular industry that I can chat with about these things...otherwise, I'd only be able to talk about this with Phone Arena...

6. je2345 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:07 0 0

the WebOS is very promising but the hardware itself and battery life was garbage. The keyboard is worse that the Droid's physical keyboard (which i have grown to love). I work at a Verizon store and we have honestly only sold 1 Palm device. We haven't sold any pixi's what so ever. The Droid and majority of Blackberry products are the hot sellers here.

7. AaronWasHere posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:09 0 0

Good riddance. Palm can die and never come back IMHO. They had a chance to reinvent themselves and completely bombed it. The WebOS, while showing some potential, was surrounded by absolute crap on the hardware side.

8. desertmike680 posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:11 0 0

Well we (sprint) did sell a record amount of Pre's. We see a lot of them in for repair, but the issues are always related to excessive wear and tear, and the fact that customers dont understand the concept of taking care of their device.

9. Bored_Shitless posted on 22 Mar 2010, 13:15 0 0

I have been telling this to a few of my friends. I think that they should re-release Web OS as an interface overlay for Android. There are people that like the design of both devices, so there is obviously a niche for Palm devices.