Can Pre survive the economy? 13
In all the hubbub of the Pre announcement at CES last month, we missed an article by eWeek that takes a more sobering look at Palm’s situation, and just how important the Pre is to the company’s survival. They don’t seem to be feeling much of the excitement, and rather critically point out some of Palm’s recent shortcomings in the market place (mainly the lack of any “killer” devices), and that Pre might struggle to gain a foot hold in the face of turbulent economic times, and a host of stiff competition.
While I agree that Palm and Sprint aren’t exactly in the best of positions, I think the article is overly harsh. It’s true that the economy isn’t exactly in stellar shape, but I think that might just play into Sprint and Palm’s favor, rather than work against them. eWeek suggests that to further help themselves, Palm should look to sell the device in as many places as possible, and I honestly agree. The more places the Pre is sold, the more it will be advertised, and the more it will be recognized. I’d love to see it show up in places like Wal-Mart, Target, and anywhere else Palm can think of. I’m convinced that consumers just need to get their hands on the device, and then Pre and WebOS will sell themselves. If they can do that while shopping in Wal-Mart, all the better.
What are your thoughts? Is the article on the spot, or too harsh/too easy? Do you think Pre needs to be a quick hit to survive, or can it afford to build up a user base more slowly?
(Thanks David for the tip!)
13 Comments
I was pretty enthusiastic about the Pre, until I realized it has a lousier battery, NO expandable memory, NO OS5 emulator, and a LOT of hype. Smells more and more like just an iPhone with a real keyboard. And, it's an untested OS from a company with a very bad track record of listening to their customers (actually, they actively dismiss our concerns far too frequently).
Apple's entrenched pretty well, and as crippled as their stuff is, I CAN say that any issues I've had with their iPod stuff has been IMMEDIATELY addressed and corrected by their staff without a bunch of hooey about obvious manufacturer defects being "user caused" as Palm tends to do. Those smarmy "Apple Geniuses" actually are well trained and support the customers very, very well. Compare that to Palm, a company that wanted my friend to pay them $125.00 for the three (3) replacement screws that FELL OUT of his Tungsten T3 within the first month - a KNOWN defect in Palm's manufacturing process. They lost that guy (a well-regarded software engineer) and many people he talked with as a customer for life. Nothing they hype about the Pre will heal what Palm has done to their disregarded customers, and the economy only makes it worse for them.
That said, I've stupidly stuck with Palm and PalmOS for some 12+ years. MAYBE the Pre will actually be released AND live up to a lot of the hype. IF I can try one out for a month while reserving the ability to stick with my trusty 755 I may do that. I won't pay more than my current "all data" plans, I don't want more than another year's "agreement," and it had better be MULTITUDES better than my out-of-contract Treo 755s. My target price is about $150 with the one-year agreement.
This economic reckoning has been coming on for many years, I'm being much more cautious with my purchasing, and Palm needs to show me more than nifty shortcuts to weather reports and new fonts on a bigger screen for me to take the huge gamble on this phone. If it really sums up to less than what I have with my (paid for) Treo 755s, I'm completely happy to continue on with OS5 despite Palm's decree that WebOS is somehow "better."
I dunno, man. With the economy sliding into depression, even with a new president and congress at least giving SOME lip service to re-regulation and jobs programs, Sprint and Palm had better play their cards carefully about hardballing potential customers on this phone. They both have very well-deserved miserable reputations to overcome, the hardware and OS is completely unproven, and people aren't so motivated to load on debt and commitment on the next-flashy-thing as they once were.
One thing's for sure: the longer they sit on the release of this puppy, the more time they give their well-funded competitors a chance to improve the problems with their own devices. It's not OS5, so for me the WebOS has to be compared on it's merits with every other operating system available out there. A hype-filled show at CES weeks ago does not automatically crown this thing perpetual king.
IIR, Sprint's current retail data plans are about $15 bucks/month for all-you-can-eat. It's one of the reasons people endure all the terrible things about Sprint. If this thing is as dependent on the cloud as they say, it's good customer service to simply require a data plan to avoid any chance of misunderstandings. Sprint +1