Verizon to offer Palm Pre early in 2010 and that's official

Verizon reported second quarter earnings today, but they also made a big announcement. Early in 2010, the Palm Pre will be offered by Big Red. The carrier dropped this bombshell in a conference call with analysts. Currently, Sprint has the exclusive rights to sell the handset in the U.S. The Pre was launched amid great fanfare back on June 6th and for the most part, has lived up to its designation as the chief competitor to Apple's iPhone despite some questions about build quality.

As for Verizon's second quarter, as previously reported the company added 1.1 million wireless customers during the three months to bring the total to 87.7 million wireless customers. The churn rate, at 1.01%, was even lower than AT&T's 1.05% rate reported last week. Big Red saw wireless data revenue steam ahead by 33%. Profit margin in the division rose to 28.8% Due to the Alltel acquisition (those customers spend less on average), the average Verion Wireless customer spent $51.10 on monthly service in the quarter, off .8% from last year.

Well, Verizon customers, 2010 can't come soon enough?

Palm Pre Specifications | Review

source: Barron's