
Short Lines Formed for Pre LaunchSprint sold out of Pre's in some areasBack in January the
Palm Pre was first shown at CES 2009. Since it first debuted at the show, it has been among the most highly anticipated
smartphones of the year. Over the weekend, the
Palm Pre launched and both
Sprint and Palm are hoping the device can save the ailing companies.
Reuters reports that the launch of the
Pre saw some
lines form at stores in larger cities as shoppers looked to get their hands on the new
smartphone. As expected, the Pre launch was a drop in the bucket compared to the epic launch of the
iPhone several years ago.
Reuters reports that while the lines of fans waiting to buy the Pre were shorter than seen for the
iPhone, the customers will still anxious to get their hands on the new device.
Peter Lewis, a shopper in line for a Pre, told Reuters,
"I wanted their iPhone killer. I've been anticipating this for a while."Sprint is hoping that the Pre will prove popular enough that it will help stop the subscriber defections plaguing the company and help it win customers back form
Verizon and AT&T. A Sprint spokesperson said that as of late Saturday Sprint had sold out of Pre's at a number of locations around the country and Sprint was working to try to restock the stores.
Palm's Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein said,
"It's always nice to see a bunch of people waiting for a product you worked on." He continued saying, "
For us, the opportunity is not to take customers away from RIM or Apple." The opportunity here according to Rubinstein is to get Sprint customers to upgrade from basic handsets to the new Pre. An increasing percentage of most cellular providers revenue is coming from data plans, which smartphones are optimized for.
The limelight will shine on Palm for a scant few more hours before
Apple's WWDC kicks off in California. Apple is widely expected to
launch a new iPhone at the conference in the keynote set to kick off shortly. The
first official Pre reviews for the Pre were favorable.
Source:
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Palm Pre, Palm Pre launched, Smartphone, iPhone, Apple's WWDC, Verizon and AT&T Apple Keynote, WWDC 2009