Sprint CFO on Palm Pre Inventory 28
We just mentioned that Best Buy is still struggling with the Palm Pre backlog and no surprise, Sprint has the same issues. So says Sprint Chief Financial Officer Bob Brust:
We still have a backlog of subscribers but it's not unmanageable and we get shipments every week," said Sprint CFO Bob Brust during a Webcast of an investor conference, adding that the shipments are increasing every week.
"We'll be short for a while but we're catching up," said Brust, who sees the phone attracting new customers as well as existing Sprint customers, potentially reducing its subscriber cancellation rate.
The 'good news' is that demand is still outstripping supply enough that Sprint claims they haven't felt any hurt from the iPhone 3GS. Whether that will continue to be the case once the Pre is fully stocked across all channels is another matter, but the fact that Sprint said they didn't see a dip in demand is actually pretty darn impressive given that Apple has already sold over a million iPhone 3GSes.1
Plus, we're not complaining about the "shipments every week" part, we just hope that they're significant. Are you still trying to track down a Pre? Any luck?
[via PalmInfoCenter]
1. And you thought "Pre" was difficult to pluralize.
28 Comments
I'm not eligible for the full phone upgrade rebate until 9/1, so I'm not exactly "trying" to get one.
That said, I've been tempted to just eat the $75 difference.
Does anyone know ... does Sprint ever budge on the "rebate date"? Would I have any chance of convincing them to let me upgrade, at the full discount, early? If so, would I have a better chance if I wait for the waiting list to die down?
Jeff
Yes they do. I wish I could tell you how, but I wasn't eligible for an upgrade for months, but a sprint store employee did a manual discount through their system. So i paid the usual $200, after the mail-in rebate.
and that rep will show up on a report and most likely be fired for doing that but good job on finding a not so smart rep!!
I'm eligible for my upgrade next month and they wouldn't let me upgrade early. The guy from CS, I called *2 and ws transfered from the first rep, told me that if anyone approved early upgrades adn the customer bought a Pre the rep would be fired. Obviously I think that's a load of BS, but due to teh demand right now they may not be willing to work with you just yet.
That said I called 2 Sprint store in my area(Dayton, Ohio) and both had Pres in stock on Saturday.
yeah, i picked one up saturday in Richmond, IN. had to pay out the ass to do it though :(
Just call account services and they will take care of you. Act as if you are leaving the company.
I was not eligable for a rebaye either to I was to pay the FULL retail price of $549 . But print i a very eay company to work with . I imply aked for the rebate a I have been a customer for 8 years and they gave me a $200 credit off the price of the Pre, thi brought it down to $349.00. Then I old my HTC Touch Pro for $200.00, now down to $150.00 and alo sold my 1st touch screen phone the original HTC Touch 6900 for $125.00 . so the Pre only cost me $50.00 . Well worth it !!!:-)
OMG proof read...
I too was able to get a $175 credit by just emailing ecare and asking if I were to upgrade could I get a credit, they said yes and credited my acct after I scanned and emailed them the receipt.
Yeah 2 of my sisters picked up Pre's within a week of me camping out to get one of the first ones at my store. All they did was go in and get on a waiting list, and a few days later they had one. Some places must be having a lot more trouble keeping up than others, I don't think it's that bad here.
iPhone ships to other countries. Thats not 1 million American sales.
Can people in the states stop buying the pre?
It needs to come out in Canada, and it won't until there is decent supply.
US citizenship has its privileges. Its about as good as they get, but we'll take it.
It hasn't been 30 days yet either, so when that happens maybe some Pres will be back in stock. I am returning mine soon, not because I don't love its feel and the OS, but Its just too damn new to use as my primary device. I can't wait for a second iteration.
Once my 3GS comes in the mail, Sprint will be losing my business. I hope it hurts, Sprint.
Once you get your 3GS(ucker), let's see how long it takes you to activate it. Then we will watch your eyes bug-out as you look at your ATT bill, you will pay at least $30 extra as oppose to a Sprint customer with a like plan and similar features (actually sprint gives you more because GPS and MMS are included). I hope you heard the news, ATT is charging an additional $10 a month for the same TeleNav service Sprint uses. ATT still hasn't said how much they are going to charge for MMS. Lastly, your drops calls will be identical to the 3G, many-many new 3GS(ucker) owners are already complaining about drop calls and poor signal, its 3G redux.
Just switched my Pre at the local store due to the yellowness in the screen. I had to wait a week for them to get enough in stock to let me switch it. I'm guessing there are plenty of other Pre owners eating up part of the new shipments.
I really like Sprint's simply everything plan, and I think I can put up with the deficiencies of the Pre. Seem like I'll be keeping it. I've read about the touch pro and the palm pro. Sprint's blackberry lineup won't suffice until this fall when the Tour comes out. Hopefully I'll be happy w/ my Pre by then, otherwise I'll have buyer's remorse.
Wild, I walked into a Sprint store this past Saturday and got my battery swapped since I was having the loose battery issue that would shut the pre off if you closed the slider too hard or set it down a little to hard. The took a battery out of a newer Pre and put it in mine, problem solved.
Did anyone ask him whether the new stock will have a lower share of e.g. dead pixels, wobbly sliders?
I got mine from a Sprint store the Monday after launch. I was told by Best Buy that most of their stores only got 2-4 units. When I went to the Sprint store, the rep there said they had got 25 at launch, while another store across town had gotten 90. Sounds like Best Buy is getting shafted for wanting to do the rebate instantly.
Best Buy was never going to get many units during intro. Just enough to generate a little traffic and buzz and say they were part of the fun, as thanks for being a Sprint dealer. Most Radio Shacks wont see their first units until August.
Last laugh is on Sprint, I bet BB baited and switched more people to VZN or ATT than they will every receive or sell Pre units.
Funny how he says the Pre has a backlog. I called my Sprint rep Thursday and had a Pre at my door on Friday. Doesn't sound like a backlog to me.
Sprint doesn't have the stock they would like to have but the wait list that you may have to get on more than likely you would'nt be on there for long.
I bought mine day 1 at the 3rd sprint store near me. They sold out about an hour after. 4 days later I bought my gf the last 1 at radioshak and guess what... The radioshak wasn't doing rebate.. Just 2@@ bucks like best buy. So now I am annoyed I had to send in rebate for the first. Its okay we both love our phones and for both of us 'WE REPLACED OUR iPHONE 3G's. And I have never been happier.. WebOS browser has NEVER crashed. Mboile safari crashed every few minutes on both our phones. Just wish palm hurrys on the sdk.
Would have gone for 3GS' though 3GSes is probably more accurate due to it being an acronym.
weird. i went to a Sprint store in the mall 3 days ago and picked one up. the guy there had 4 on hand. the big sprint store down the road had a waiting list. i guess it depends on where you go.
Hey Bob,
I'd like a Pre but I'll have to get the HTC TouchPro 2 since I need to change plans and pay $40 - $70 more per month for the same services.
If Sprint decides I have to change plans for that phone too. I'll just reactive my Motorola Startac.
Disgruntled SERO owner
Just went to my local Sprint store last night looking for a second touchstone (they don't sell just the stone, so I ordered from PreCentral), and they said only 1 store rep was allowed a Pre due to demand versus supply...
B