Inventory at Best Buy to be Especially Thin at Launch? 34
As Dieter mentioned Tuesday when he reported that the Pre will be released on June 6th, it'll be at Best Buy stores along with Sprint Stores, RadioShack, and Wal-Mart. And Derek let us know that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told shareholders at an investors conference on Tuesday that there will probably be a shortage of Pres for awhile.
Boy Genius Report got word from their ninjas that there will only be about 4,250 Palm Pres available for Best Buy stores on launch day on June 6th. And since there are around 1,000 Best Buy locations that'll be selling the Pre, that leaves around 4 Pres per store.
The latest rumor is that Best Buy Mobile’s own Pre launch guide lays out a two-stage launch: Phase 1 will be from June to July where inventory will be extremely low and marketing will be minimal, and Phase 2 will be in late July or early August when the inventory of the Pre is expected to increase.
It also appears that RadioShack will have thin inventory as well, BGR guesses 721 stores with about 2 Pres per store.
Update: Looks like Best Buy is also giving away Palm Pre Phones.
34 Comments
Is it not possible, and I'm only asking here, that these won't be distributed evenly to all store? Maybe stores in densely populated area might have more than say a store in Valdosta, GA?
Idk, just asking. Maybe the guy is lying, maybe not.
Is there no limit on units per person the first week of launch? I can't afford e-bay $$ so I may end up having to wait!
I have switched to my verified account now. Is that a little less freaky, CJ (not verified)?
All three of you are freaking me out. Are you pre-selling the Pre on e-bay?
I recently heard from my Best Buy source too. First they were told they wouldn't have any in most stores. Now he expects 4-6 in his mid-sized store (not near me). He also said it was one per customer - very strict. So if I needed two I needed to bring my wife with me.
Sprint on Friday night is looking better all the time - rebate or not.
Not making this up and not confused. I may have bad info but that is different.
I hope you are right and the guy trying to sell me something is wrong. But I wouldn't bet on it.
BTW, where did you get YOUR information ?
:)
Stupid Blackberry duped posts again!
And they're going to solder BGA parts by hand?
Wow. :-(
did you see the lakers game last night?
Well once AGAIN!!! SPrint is showing the marketing PROWESS that has LOST them Millions of customers in the last few years. Except in this approach they taking the successful "PISS OFF THE CUSTOMER BECAUSE WE DON"T HAVE ENOUGH PHONES" method.
Sprint should go and sell screen doors for submarines.
Good move PALM!!!! Don't go with T-Mobile which is owned by the largest GSM provider in Europe!!! or go with Verizon with their 75 MILLION Subscribers!!! No let's try and sell as many phones as possible with the sinking ship of Sprint!!!
Here's an Idea open a cell phone kiosk on the Titanic AFTER hitting an Iceberg. But themn you'd try and justify that by thinking " Well NOW people will have a reason to call for help!"
If you're very quite you can hear them laughing all the way in Cuppertino, CA.
All the garbage out there leaves ya wondering WHAT to believe. Radio Shack seems like the worse bet. I have yet to hear ANYTHING about getting one at Wal-Mart. Best Buy is known for having frothing rabid freaks waiting for over 24 hours (I've been there Black Friday!) - Not to mention it sounds like if they even have it there'll be less than 10 (but you won't know that till you're up and they're out and all the Sprint stores have been open pert near 2 hours!) That said, Sprint (rebate and all) seems like best bet. I've heard rumors of some opening back up Friday night for those who asked to be notified when the Pre became available with an e-mail. I haven't verified that, yet, though - but should be good if it's true...
I'd be willing to just pay $100 more up-front to ensure a store with more stock...