Palm Halts Production of Pre Plus and Pixi Plus? Update x2: Debunked with official statement 139
OTR Global, a firm that provides stock research, is claiming that Palm has halted production of the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus. It's unclear whether the report is reliable yet and if it is, it's also unclear if there are any implications that a Palm user need worry about - whether it's just that Palm made enough for Verizon ahead of time and this is just a normal pause in production to manage inventory, whether it bodes ill for the future of the company, or what is all unclear.
As quoted at BGR, OTR says that a source claimed “The decision is very sudden, and Foxconn was told to reduce all February Pre forecast to zero on Wednesday and nobody knows whether shipment will resume in March."
More as we get it.
[Source: Boy Genius Report]
Update: We are still waiting on direct comment from Palm, but Engadget reports that they've spoken to Palm and the halt is nothing to get in a tizzy about: production was just halted for the Chinese new year and Palm had even ramped up production ahead of time in preparation for the pause in production.
Feel free to go find something else to panic about, folks. We recommend investigating the linkage between the huge amount of snow on the east coast and the pending return of the Old Gods to destroy us all.
Update 2: Here's the official statement from Palm
Palm regularly adjusts its product manufacturing levels to manage inventory. In anticipation of the Verizon Wireless launch and Chinese New Year, we increased production levels prior to February, and anticipate ramping production back up after the Chinese New Year ends
139 Comments
Weird...
Hope it does not delay 1.4!!!
nope. just closed for the holidays. move along nothing to see here....
well in either case someone got worried...Palms stock took a hit as someone below said...lol.
Palm's stock is OK - It's Sprint that's getting killed today! down 3.25% so far.
IF it's for the Chinese New Year it makes sense. You should try to get any aftermarket pieces for a Ducati (like anything carbon fiber) in August. Impossible. The whole freakin' country is on holiday. Come to think of it.........
bj
It is more than weird. It looks very suspicious the way the news was originally reported. I wonder if there was an intent to manipulate the stocks.
Yikes, hopefully that's not a sign of bad things to come :(
+1
what does this mean?... Yikes !
.
scary!!
what?
It either means, Palms not paying their bills, or they already made enough of them!
If Palm's really defaulting then it should be Foxconn ordering the halt, not Palm themselves.
I want it to mean that Palm is making some improvements in the build quality.
@swieder:hopefully!
They did, last August 2009.
I wish I knew what was going on with Palm. I mean I am a fan and all and love my phone, but this uncertainty with how the company is progressing, with the horrible advertising that needs to be addressed by having all current advertisers fired and/or shot, and the stocks going up and down really makes me nervous. I like to know that the company I back is rock solid. I mean, despite the horrible launch of the Pre and the various setbacks Palm has had to endure, I still believed in WebOS and Palm as a company, but I would feel much more comfortable if Palm had a "game plan" that I could follow. Seems as if there has been too many chances and not enough factual solid advances.
Just my opinion...
So you don't think ten major updates to webOS in eight months is enough of an indication on how fast the company is moving? And a launch at Verizon with a pending launch at AT&T is not enough of a game plan you can follow? I think Palm has set our expectations so high, and have been delivering so much, that we now need assurance that they can keep this up. I think Palm is doing just fine (but we should not tell them that least they relax!).
I think Palm is doing just fine (but we should not tell them that least they relax!).
it should be (Lest they relax!)
Your correction is one of the best I have encountered in years. I have always used "least" and no one ever corrected me.
Thanks... I really appreciate it!
Palm is a publicly traded company, and any material decision would probably have to be disclosed in a filing with the SEC. {Jonathan}
If this is true all the people at the sec should investigate those who started shorting ....Unreal first upgrade this morning and this rumor
where do you start? There have been massive shorts since launch.
If you look at the original report - they said all of Palms production (Pre+ and Pre) was suspended which is false. As an immediate result, over $300 million in stocks was traded today. Someone made a lot of money!
And they heightened the emotional impact by saying that "nobody knows whether shipment will resume in March". They must have frightened a lot of people to sell their stocks. The simple question is - did the company/persons that published the story contact Palm to verify that the report was accurate before going public?
Maybe they halted the production is to fix the problems that Verizon users are having with these newer models.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet!
Rob
Then how do you explain even Pre is suspended?
It is said that "truth is the daughter of time." So let's wait and see before throwing our beloveds in the river. But if you don't have time to wait for the truth: "In Vino Veritas."
Retool for GSM Pre Plus / Pixi Plus...
(wild guess)
That what im thinking. They have filled VZ order and VZ didnt want anymore at this time. So doing a shut down to retool for At&T GSM models. At least thats what im hopeing.
Design defect causes sudden CPU acceleration. Brace for the recall.
+10
Maybe that means the Pre2 is coming down the pipe?
maybe there is a mouse in the production facility and they are all scared and standing on the machines.
@ blackmagic01:that's so funny,at least, we can laughed about it.lol'
buy the way Verizon does not have the advertisement for the pre plus on its homepage.....not cool
to be fair neither does sprint but i get your point. not really unexpected though.
i hope this doesn't spell Palm's doom. i love WebOS and i wanna see it live through to a new killer device.
Please fix the sticking keyboard. Please?
Maybe something to do with release of 1.4?
Another reason to hate the big V.
Pre for Sprint are affected too. Read the original article.
Aliens have taken over the factory...also, isn't Foxconn also the manufacturer for Iphone?
From Venture Beat:
Having just announced new smartphone hardware in January for Verizon, the last thing we expect to hear from Palm is a massive hardware production halt. But according to Boy Genius Report, who points to a report by OTR Global, Palm could be aiming to do just that.
Sources say that Palm has ordered Foxconn, who builds the phones, to halt production of the Pre and Pre+ this month. Both the Pixi and Pixi+ phones are also affected, although there
FAIL.
Oh come on, you just said you made a profit off this... lol
We need more idiots like them to help us buy cheap stock!
You're right Toni, tomorrow I want some Pre hater to start another rumor, like all Palm devices are being recalled - and watch as the stock drops another buck or two, and I'll buy more. ;-) even if, Palm ends up being bought out, or even fails, (very unlikely), I can't lose all that much. ...more so with Sprint.
Sprint could very well drop back below 3 bucks this week. I'll probably be buying more of that too.
Oh, and my FAIl comment was directed towards the post directly above it. ...total speculation = total BS
Yeah, but what about the Centros?
Maybe they're gearing up for Pre 2 production...I hope
I agree with this.....Palm has haulted production on phones before folks. This is not new. I strongly believe this was a choice of suvival rather than their doom. WebOS is Palm's "golden ticket" and it just needs the proper hardware to back it up. Considering Palm produces cellphones, ironically their communication with the public is very weak. I don't know why we haven't seen or heard a statement regarding this yet from them. Perhaps this is a strategic move as well.
ooops, wrong one
Press release mentioned CDMA2000 Pre and CDMA2000 Pre+ are affected. No mentions of the GSM Pre for Telcel and Telefonica.
i personally think Palm made too many Pre's and aren't selling enough. They probably ran out of space in their warehouse haha. Poor Palm.
While I doubt sales are meeting expectations, this probably doesn't indicate anything huge.
I am kinda scared I would like to think that they just made enough, otherwise I am a Pre Plus owner I don't want to think that it has a hardware defect or the worse Palm is dead already. The only problem I have with my Pre + is that it gets discharged too quick. I need to charge it twice a day.
Could it be a quality control problem? I've gone through 2 and am headed to Verizon this weekend for my third. The slider mechanism is a mess and keeps breaking. I LOVE this phone, but am afraid of it's long term life span. I've thought about a Pixi Plus, but I hate to give up the bigger screen and 16Gb memory.
well ill tell u this much i talked to a sprint rep, and he says we wont see a pre 2 until summer 2011, so its not gearing up for any new production!
deleted
The production facility is under attack from 10 foot blue people on flying pterodactyls that are really pissed cause Palm knocked down their treehouse.
Maybe this is the real reason:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/debunk-palm-not-halting-pre-pixi-prod...
You beat me by like 2 seconds.
great minds ;o) LOL
Hopefully that's all that is truly going on.....
i still think it's giant blue dudes on giant pterodactyls
Relief and disappointment at the same time. Glad to know the production is OK, but disappointed I was totally expecting new hardware (ooowww my GSM Pre Plus...)
Debunked by Engadget already.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/debunk-palm-not-halting-pre-pixi-prod...
Anyone in the manufacturing business ever heard of this? Or is just spin?
No, it is actually that case. Chinese New Year is a big deal for us (I'm from Hong Kong, actually), and especially in the manufacturing business in China, where a lot of the factory workers are from other provinces outside the main industrial cities, they would go back and visit families.
So it would be perfectly normal to shut down till the end of the month.
It's just like Christmas and the holiday season.
From Engadget:
We just talked to Palm and here's the real deal: Pre and Pixi orders were halted for the Chinese New Year on the 14th, and production will go back online at the end of the month.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/debunk-palm-not-halting-pre-pixi-prod...
^^^. Time to update the article before the masses get scared....
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/debunk-palm-not-halting-pre-pixi-prod...
there is no problem here...
too late stock went down lol
just means it's a great time to buy
Yea I think I will...
Much respect to Engadget for actually doing some research before throwing a story like this up.
It's BGR... what did you expect. Sometimes they're worse than Gizmodo.
But props to Engadget, you did get (some) respect back from me.
wouldn't it be great if Palm were it's own carrier? I haven't met a Sprint or Verizon rep yet who knew enough about webOS to sell it- or even use it well. And the advertising...oh, the advertising...
C'mon Palm, get serious about selling! Hire some of us from this forum :)
i think it depends where you are. i was at best buy and a sprint store at launch and a different sprint store about a month later. they all gave me a good tutorial. By the third time i kinda didn't want it cause i didn't need it. I don't go to verizon stores as i have no need but i'd bet customer service may vary from store to store or maybe even region.
Agreed! I was at the Sprint store and was shocked at how uninformed the sales reps were about the Palm products.
My co-worker bought a Pixi Plus because she saw how much I enjoyed my Pre, and she said they told her NOTHING in the store. I had to show her how to find the App Catalog.
that sucks. the best buy i was at at launch had a sprint rep there with two working versions of the phone. you know best buy. the only versions that work are the iphones. And they sprint rep was actually showing it off and letting people use it. So i guess i got lucky. i bought mine online months later anyways so i guess i didn't even want someone to explain much to me.
I think it was due to an accelerator and a brake problem with the floor mats or something. yep, I'm convinced that is it.
If the phone gets caught between the accelerator or the brake due to floor mat design flaws, it is causing Toyota's to wreck. But maybe only in the Prius. (not confirmed)
floor mats lol!
....and did you see the big news? Sarah Palin uses a PALM !!!
...wait, what?! ...oh, nevermind, whole different (low-tech), Palm.
you can see the link here about the halt information:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/11/debunk-palm-not-halting-pre-pixi-prod...
See how quickly folks go crazy over a rumor. wow.
I go shovel the driveway and all hell breaks loose.
Palm is just fine.
..so is my slider. . ...and it has been since launch day in June. (and I beat the crap out of this phone.) ;-)
uf! I have to go wash my pants....
Makes sence, we have a cut off in my company to allow for the chinese new year also. I like it since I don't have to do 9:00pm con-calls during that time.
thanks BGR - I just bought a 1000 Palm shares at a discount!
rumors are so lame....I bet Google was secretly behind that one
It's funny how everyone either assumes the worst about Palm that it's going under, or some fantasy about Palm coming out with some miracle product. Why can't Palm just be a regular company that comes out with great phones and are successful at it?
Isn't BGR known to be unreliable and biased when it comes to Palm/webOS?
BGR and TechCrunch are both pretty much Apple fanboy sites. (there has never been an Apple product that has received a bad review from them)
Michael Arrington, at TechCrunch bashes Palm and the Pre every chance he gets.... he's a total tool, by most reports.
I forget who it was that threw him off his show, after Arrington accused him of giving a good review of the Pre cause he got it from Palm for free. (like every other reviewer in the world) Arrington was pissed cause he didn't get one. ;-)
Was that the Leo LaPorte incidence?
yeah it was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV-lgnAjps
Yes, it was, thanks! Great Video!
Does everyone know the Chinese new year is coming up this week?
Is anyone going to hold this so-called research firm responsible for putting out bad information? They should be investigated by the SEC.
Are they making the Pre plus and Pixi Plus IN CHINA? Sheesh!!
What ever happened to made in the USA!
I'd be willing to bet there isn't a single handset being made in the USA.
All Palm devices are manufactures in the USA... That is why it is expensive and takes a long time for them to manufacture one batch of it... If it was manufactured in china or other asian countries, all wireless providers would have hold of the Pre and Pixi now!... Not all Wireless providers have pixi and pre because palm cannot manufacture that much...
Come on....do you really want to pay for "made in USA"prices?
About 90% of all people in this country only care about the price. Does it really matter where it's made? As long as the quality is good and the price is good.
If we are worried about manufacturing jobs, then there are other problems such as, why aren't our kids becoming professionals instead of manufacturing jobs that any person with a pulse can do?
@Cezasf:find me a cellphone made in the us and like anything else are made in china.The low paying wages in china that's what mades the poor and middle class americans enjoy the materialistic things possible.
What ever happened to made in the usa,you said? you tell me?
you americans are only patriotic when come to war but come down to your own economy you buy foreign products.your own admission that US products are inferior.If you don't learn to support your own soon!Well?
I am canadian and i feel sorry for you people.I hope you don't have to go to china look for job soon,lol'
Wow! What hate from our 51st state.
Listen I love my friends up in the great white north, but cool down the rhetoric. If it wasn't for NAFTA your primary exports would be beer, walleye, & donuts.
Heck, Mexico is making most of your hockey sticks. So chill out a little, and enjoy the two month wait for your appendectomy.
@GoSteelers:there were no hate intended as I was merely stating the facts that americans should buy or support american's products(ex.cars and cellphones)My answer to his questions"what ever happened to made in the USA? I think he just answered his own question.
Apple,motorola and dell to name a few american companies who made their phones in china.Why don't you people ask them.If they want to sell their phones in the US.Make the phone in the homeland USA.Your famous theme song "born in the USA".Have you heard of the words "boycott"??
I owned 2 american iphones and a american palm pre.(I preferred my pre to the iphones)I support US products and happened that YOUR US companies sent it to make in china.Talk about PATRIOTISM!
BTW,your comment about canada want to be the 51st state?(you're the most misinformed people that I've ever met,that we canadians have to wait for 2 months for an appendectomy(our health-care system is envious by some of the americans), we live in an igloo and the whole world also want to be part of america I am sorry,not anytime soon for your ignorant informations and what's wrong with our beer,walleye and donuts(I know some americans do comes up here to savour them)
Speaking of our hockey sticks,heck!made in mexico.That's the hockey sticks, going to beat you for the gold in this winter olympic.lol'
We Canadians always consider you as our neighbour down south of the border.And that my friend is not rhetoric!
OH,Canada.
Look, if you folks want to become the next US states, the just say so.
Hell no! We'd rather have something like Mexico. Hell Mexico has pretty women and warm beaches and sunny resorts and stuff. We already got all the good things Canada has to offer: Wayne Gretzky, Michael J Fox and Pam Anderson. I save from now on, if we're adding states let's add places people want to go. We don't need like just a bigger North Dakota. We got a perfectly good one already.
@No,no,thanks and no thanks.We're safe and secure up here.
It's your untidyguy mentality that's why America is in a mess today.Look at your economy and health care for instance.You should take care of your own first before you takes care of other people business.
We prefer to sing OH,Canada.
says the guy from the country reliant on U.S. healthcare companies to provide it's drugs on the cheap. Yeah. Like Canada is totally self reliant. You're comments are simplistic.
Americans want to be paid enough that they can afford to eat. Kinda means you gotta pay them more. Honestly if the cost of living in the U.S. wasn't so high people wouldn't need as much money and you could manufactur more stuff here. you just can't. Sucks but it's a sad reality.
@blackmagic01:hmmmmmmm interesting thought.India, china and mexico would played a pretty role,wouldn't you say?
I would say i don't understand you because your grammer is so bad. "Would played?" what does that mean? And role in what? Face it. If it weren't for the U.S. someone would have invaded you already.
lol... simmer down now...
@blackmagic01:cheap labor,you idoit! Yes,the whole world needs protection? Look at the mess you caused(vietnam,south america and NOW! middle east) in this world? I did not know that the United Nations is USA.
Btw,maybe you should send your junky cars to be made in china where nobody want(not even you) and give it to the third world countries if you really want to help!
No need to get your boxers in a bunch! Palm will be fine. Take deep breathe. See now don't you feel beter?
Dieter, nice Lovecraft reference. :) Glad to know there is no reason to panic. Aside from the return of the Old Gods.
Dieter, thanks for being on top of this. Effin' BGR...
"OTR Global LLC (OTR
@ stockh: a bunch of nitwits!
Also known as 'making shit up' :)
it's just a simple supply and demand formula...
These things are made in China? I thought they were out of the mass production game.
;-)
happy days are here again$$$$ false alarm and palm only halt production for the chinese new year.Palm is tougher than a $0.50 steak!
Wow! I'll never comment again.
It's hard to follow with most of the people reading only the title of the article then posting. "not good" or "pre2".
Most of the article ends up with hundreds of posts in hours with no meaningful discourse for just this reason.
Actually I think I'll just stop reading the comments everyplace else but moejackson.com At least I expect those comments :/
@ fr4nk1yn;relax! it's just a state of "denial" on their part.
Troll? @fr4nk1yn - Your post makes no sense, unless you wanted to point us to that site - deceptive marketing!!!!!
I only joined the Palm "family" when I purchased a Centro a couple years ago, but like most of my purchases I did research first. People have been playing "Chicken Little" for years now crying "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!" about Palm & their "imminent" demise.
I think they keep claiming "Palm is dead." over & over again on the off chance it actually happens so they can claim "I told you so".......eventually. I think they look ridiculous. Palm has taken it's lumps & made some mistakes, but WebOS gives them much to build on & reason for people to be optimistic about their future. You don't honestly think Rubenstein would jump aboard a sinking ship with no chance do you??
@cjbritton: agree!totally.
Wait a minute, why would Palm tell a Manufacturer to halt production for the Chinese New Year. If the Manufacturer wanted to close factory, they would do it. Palms gives manufacturer order and the deadline, and manufacturer meets it.
Wish my clients would tell my firm to give me a day off...
It's funny how an article like this can bring out all of the "Chicken Littles", lol
Let's all get together and give PreCentral.net off for Chinese New Year. I've been not reading a bunch of threads and comments for the past couple of weeks in anticipation. See ya in March!
LOL
what do none of you subscribe to public holidays on your gmail account!??????? :P
It sounds like 97% are worried that Palm is doomed. The other 3% bought stock at a bargain price. Have you ever noticed that panic smells? It smells like money!
This type of sensationalization, half truths and just general BS "journalism", the term use quite liberally here, is a part of the reasons the USA economy has been such a mess in the last few years. Good companies like Palm who are just trying to turn things around and hopeful reclaim some of their previous glory, prestige and market share are met with these nefarious attacks.
Irresponsible no talent assclowns like the author of article who inject doubt and perceived lack of confidence in companies like Palm, by propogating rumor and innuendo that can cause public confidence to wax and wane.
Example; If I were looking at getting a Pre today and had just got wind of the "news" from the original article, I would have hedged on that decision, either waiting for an official word from Palm or depending on personal circumstance, went with something else. Lets face it, given the prospect of Pre dying a sudden death as the article implies, who would want one..
Again irresponsible journalism.. If you can even call it that.
Thanks Dieter for all you do in making Precentral.net the premier source for accurate, timely and relevant information. You are truly a credit to this community and your profession.
Perhaps you don't realize what OTR does. Go to their website! They are not journalists. The company's entire existence is to acquire intelligence. Companies then pay OTR hundreds of thousands of dollars for reports they generate. It's not like a newspaper where sensationalism sells. Accuracy of information sells.
One question: would it make sense for a company that makes money by SELLING information to release their product for free to the public? Obviously not. The clients who bought the intelligence from OTR opened their mouths like morons.
I found this article to be respectable and a joy, considering that whole country is basically slave labor.. They actually get a holiday. Extremely respectable.
It's dissappointing how everyone from "Mobile Corporate" to the everyday cell user has gotten so worked up with iphones that with every new phone created, it is measured to the quality and success of the iphone. Reality is there is only 1 iphone (or 2 or 3 or is it 3GS) and there is only 1 Palm Pre. I'm not sure if it's driven by the market because in the entire scope of cell phones and devices the iphone is just one device out of dozens. It may be the most successful or popular, if you may but the amount of money made or the amount of people following doesn't determine quality. Apple pioneered the ipod which transitioned into the iphone, so it would just make sense to assume that the iphone would always stand above in all areas media related. Never knock the originators. Afterall Palm revolutionized the corporate environment with Palm Pilots and PDAs now transitioned into the Treos, Centros, Prixis and Pres. It would be a major loss for the evolution of productivity based technology to see Palm sink. What would basketball be without the legacies of Wilt Chamberlin or Michael Jordan? Of course they weren't the originators but they revolutionized their sport as Palm has ... and not to take anything from iphones because they have added a dimension to mobile productivity that other devices didn't.......ENTERTAINMENT. Could you imagine a collaborative venture between Palm, Apple and Google? We would then see the true evolution of mobile technology. Sad for us the consumer, we'll never see that because corporations are to greedy and selfish. By the time a coventure would be viable they wouldve already ruined many of their concepts in attempts to claim "Who's #1" I think the same reason why Apple can't monopolize the smartphone sector is the same reason companies will continue to bite away on its grasp until it is toppled...because we like options and choices. Afterall we live in a free world (at least most of us do)
I am enjoying this on my E72 and was just offered a trade for a N97. How can I tell whether I will be able to install this on the N97 I get if I were to go through with the trade?
Palm pre chargers
I gave up on BGR a long time ago. His hate for Palm and love for all things Apple is just too obvious.
A while back, BRG also reported a bogus news about the Palm (BGR: 200k Pre and Pixi phones apiece for Verizon - http://www.precentral.net/boy-genius-report-200k-pre-and-pixi-phones-api...)
At the time several users of this site recommended that PreCentral be careful when giving oxygen to BRG. Seems like they have learnt nothing. Before posting the first rumour and adding updates later, they should have checked with Palm and wait for the official story, like Engadget did.
Putting Updates below an article does not change the main title which is still very negative and continues to promote a perception of failure for Palm.
Sometimes, I seriously wonder if the guys at Pre Central are Palm supporters. Being the first to report a rumour when that rumour damages the people who are the basis of your business is not sound.