Palm Will Bring the Same Old webOS Phones to AT&T “in the Coming Months”

| Mar 22, 2010 | Mobile Devices | Analyst: Avi Greengart

Click here

Event Summary

March 22, 2010 -- AT&T and Palm announced that the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus phones will be available on AT&T’s 3G network in the coming months for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Both products include Palm’s innovative webOS, touchscreens, and WiFi. The Pre Plus features a faster processor, 16 GB of storage, and a sliding QWERTY keyboard, and the 8GB Pixi Plus is an exceptionally thin QWERTY bar.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Very negative on Palm’s news that the previously unspecified webOS phones that AT&T announced back at CES 2010 will be essentially the same products first seen at CES 2009. The Pre and Pixi have not sold well at Sprint or Verizon Wireless, and as much as we love Palm’s webOS and Synergy, Palm really needs new hardware as a reason to reintroduce the webOS story to consumers. We are also disappointed with the timing; the press release notes that the phones will be available “in the coming months,” which translates to May or June (any earlier, and a specific date in April would be given or “in the coming weeks” would be used). That puts Palm’s release on a collision course with the next iPhone, which will also almost certainly be announced “in the coming months.”

• Vendor Importance: Very high to Palm, which has bet the company on webOS and its two form factor platforms, the Pre and the Pixi. Palm needs all the carrier distribution it can get. However, if AT&T had come aboard, say, a year ago, when Palm had buzz coming out of CES 2009, it might have made a bigger impact.

• Market Impact: Low on the smartphones market, because Palm has not been able to command significant sales at carriers that badly need an iPhone competitor; it stands to reason that sitting alongside the iPhone at AT&T is not going to change Palm’s fortunes dramatically.

CLIENTS ONLY

Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses

Response & Recommendations

| Client access - Full report in Mobile Devices | More information

Top