[Godstyle#WP]

Palm Pixi price and Sprint launch date coming later today

[zefyx]

Sweet, thanks for the heads up!

[Reeves]

$99 after a $100 mail-in rebate? Yeah, that should be dropping REAL soon.

[Shado.F]

That's great news! Although the $299.99 upfront before a $100 mail-in rebate is something I expected, I'll be taking this upto Best Buy instead lol.

[zefyx]

Sprint (S) this morning announced that it will begin selling the Palm (PALM) Pixi on November 15, priced at $99.99 after a $50 instant rebate and a $100 mail-in rebate. The phone will sold through Sprint retail stores, as well as through Best Buy (BBY), Radio Shack (RSH) and some Wal-Mart (WMT) stores.

A follow-up to the Palm Pre, the Pixi is the second Palm phone that uses the company new WebOS operating system software.

[ADGrant]

Not much of a saving over the Pre.

[VCI_Cell]

They're really sticking to their guns on the mail-in rebate nonsense. Wonder if that has anything to do with how much $ Palm gets upfront on each phone. Then again, S might buy them in bulk from Palm at a flat cost, so who knows?

I expect that $99.99 to become at at-register price for the holidays. Still, anyone else think they should be positioning this thing at around $79?

[Reeves]

I personally think $79 is too much as well with the Pre already at $99 at Amazon for the forseeable future, and less elsewhere.

But we'll see. Palm probably needs to think less about sales, and more about creating reliable devices that will justify whatever the price is.

[TimmyB]

I'm not trying to sound condescending or anything, but I really wonder why the up-front price is so important to people? On a two-year contract, this amounts to about 3-4% of the total cost of ownership of the phone. If they did sell it for $50, instead of $100, that would save me $2 a month? Seriously...I don't understand the logic.

[TimmyB]

...Palm probably needs to think less about sales, and more about creating reliable devices that will justify whatever the price is.

Nail on the head. If they build a great phone, people will buy it. They did that with the Centro, sold millions. They did it with the Pre, sold over a million already. Are these iPhone numbers? Nope. Don't care. It was just a year ago, and all the "experts" were predicting the death of Palm. As long as they sell enough to make them money, and keep them in business, I'm happy.

[jrcbandit]

The upfront pricing is very important for US customers for whatever reason. Therefore, this is a death knell for a phone that hasn't even launched. First the horrible name that will ensure that most guys will never purchase the phone - if they really wanted Pixi they could have a pink version called the Pixi and the regular version called the Eos ;p. Secondly, at this price point it will never sell, especially considering the mail-in rebate at the Sprint store. It should have been priced at $79.99 with no mail-in rebate, they could have still done the nonsense of $129.99 with instant $50 rebate OMG. Lack of Wi-fi, slower processor, and smaller screen = no purchase for most people at the $200/$100 pricing.

[TimmyB]

The upfront pricing is very important for US customers for whatever reason. Therefore, this is a death knell for a phone that hasn't even launched. First the horrible name that will ensure that most guys will never purchase the phone - if they really wanted Pixi they could have a pink version called the Pixi and the regular version called the Eos ;p. Secondly, at this price point it will never sell, especially considering the mail-in rebate at the Sprint store. It should have been priced at $79.99 with no mail-in rebate, they could have still done the nonsense of $129.99 with instant $50 rebate OMG. Lack of Wi-fi, slower processor, and less memory = no purchase for most people at the $200/$100 pricing.

I agree with most of what you say, with a couple of exceptions.

I believe the name will cause SOME, not MOST, men to stay away. I do find that to be a strange choice by Palm.

I do agree about the rebates; they are a pain that most customers don't want to deal with.

Lack of Wi-Fi, etc. will again cause some to cross this phone off their list, but then, they will be looking at the Pre, right? I love the form factor (thin, no slider, etc.), which is probably why I love my Centro. As someone who is used to having no wi-fi, it's not that big a deal to me. Having it would be nice, but not a deal-breaker for me. Maybe, by the time the GSM version comes out, these things will be improved for me!

[dbpaddler]

The fact you can already get the Pre for under $100 makes it kind of sad the Pixi is coming in at the same price. As jrc mentioned, I could see $79.99, and I could see a $100 instant rebate along with a $50 MIR. Keeps the retail high enough to buy outright, and is more palatable at $80. Keeps it under the Pre too. I'd rather drop the extra $100 and get a Hero or Moment at that point and get a ton more functionality.

[TimmyB]

The fact you can already get the Pre for under $100 makes it kind of sad the Pixi is coming in at the same price. As jrc mentioned, I could see $79.99, and I could see a $100 instant rebate along with a $50 MIR. Keeps the retail high enough to buy outright, and is more palatable at $80. Keeps it under the Pre too. I'd rather drop the extra $100 and get a Hero or Moment at that point and get a ton more functionality.

Which was exactly my point! People who are serious about a smartphone aren't going to let $100 or so get in the way when it is such a small part of the TCO. However, I do agree there should be some price differentiation between the Pre and the Pixi, even if it's just for looks.

[bigtman1]

Sprint News Release

[ADGrant]

I'm not trying to sound condescending or anything, but I really wonder why the up-front price is so important to people? On a two-year contract, this amounts to about 3-4% of the total cost of ownership of the phone. If they did sell it for $50, instead of $100, that would save me $2 a month? Seriously...I don't understand the logic.

Upfront price is the only unargueable advantage the Pixi has over the Pre. Some will prefer the formfactor but that comes at the cost of a lower res screen, slower CPU and a girlie name.

[Shado.F]

I predict in a couple months the main price point will be:

$49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

[dbpaddler]

In this case there are big differences as mentioned...no wifi, slower processor, less memory.

However, I do agree there should be some price differentiation between the Pre and the Pixi, even if it's just for looks.

[pogeypre]

I love you too

k, now I feel better.

[KevMeister]

Sprint (S) this morning announced that it will begin selling the Palm (PALM) Pixi on November 15, priced at $99.99 after a $50 instant rebate and a $100 mail-in rebate. The phone will sold through Sprint retail stores, as well as through Best Buy (BBY), Radio Shack (RSH) and some Wal-Mart (WMT) stores...

They're really sticking to their guns on the mail-in rebate nonsense. Wonder if that has anything to do with how much $ Palm gets upfront on each phone. Then again, S might buy them in bulk from Palm at a flat cost, so who knows?

I expect that $99.99 to become at at-register price for the holidays. Still, anyone else think they should be positioning this thing at around $79?

I hate the mail-in rebate nonsense as well. I'm going with Best Buy.