[bignoze]

all of them are sold.....lol

[PreDogs]

I agree, that's what I kept telling the people that sold the Cabbage Patch dolls, Trivial Pursuit, PS3, Wii and Prius. Losers, they'll never reach their true potential!

[Klownicle#AC]

I think once monday hits we will start to see some PRPRPR $on$ $the$ $Pre$ $launch$ $and$ $more$ $information$ $about$ $the$ $phone$ $to$ $start$ $coming$ $out$. $I$ $just$ $hope$ $the$ $phone$ $gets$ $a$ $steady$ $stream$ $of$ $updates$ $like$ $sprint$ $did$ $with$ $the$ $instinct$. $The$ $instinct$ $was$ $great$ $with$ $updates$.

[PreDogs]

We had word that QC was taking longer than expected, that they had to be inspected by hand. So that may have reduced the number available. If they do want to revise it, a limited release will keep them from frustrating too many people on day 1. Depending on complexity, simple revisions and corrections can be prepared in a day or less.

But yes, the goods outweigh the bads in this case. This will be news on Monday. More exposure, more buzz. The launch appears to be smoother than Storm. And the phone is certainly more functional than 2G IPhone 1.0 with its take-home activation and choked website. How unApple-like was that?.

If people are mad, the product must be worth having. Nobody gets upset when the diner runs out of Liver and Onions.

[as147]

The two last posters here state that decent informaion will come out on Monday. However, do we truly believe that the Palm and Sprint PRPRPR $folk$ $have$ $any$ $chance$ $of$ $being$ $the$ $main$ ($or$ $even$ $significant$) $story$ $when$ $the$ $Apple$ $WWDC$ $and$ $possible$ $a$ $new$ $iPhone$ $will$ $be$ $talked$ $about$ $constantly$ $from$ $Monday$ $onwards$.

You have to question the PRPRPR $logic$. $Again$ $I$ $am$ $not$ $PR$ $expert$ ($anyone$ $on$ $here$ $who$ $is$?).

Wouldn't it have been better to launch a day or so after the WWDC? Would you then have had people holding off an iPhone purchase (that will probably not be available for a month or so) and wondering what the PRE would be when announced? A day later Palm would announce and the following day would launch? A few extra days may have helped a better PRPRPR $plan$ $and$ $perhaps$ $a$ $few$ $more$ $kinks$ $could$ $have$ $been$ $worked$ $out$?

[vikingjunior]

The real question is how many are going to be returned.

[Xyg]

I have a feeling that we'll know tomorrow. Expect media coverage on the subject.

[neurocutie]

Wouldn't it have been better to launch a day or so after the WWDC? Would you then have had people holding off an iPhone purchase (that will probably not be available for a month or so) and wondering what the PRE would be when announced?

As a morning after QB... No, I don't think so. Rumor is/was (and that is all Palm/Sprint has to go on) that Apple is going to be ready to sell the new iPhone IMMEDIATELY after announcment.

So...
- new iPhone announced, no clear action or feedback from Palm Pre? Many folks buy or upgrade to the iPhone, because they can, immediately... now Pre launches, but many have already made their choice... (bad for Palm)...
vs
- Pre released, generally good to GREAT buzz, with some issues, but most declaring the Pre to be a valid iPhone competitor, now iPhone announced... some already have jumped on the Pre, many others think about the REAL CHOICE they have...

so I think they did this right... would have been better then to do it even earlier, perhaps a week earlier, but...

the main problem (other than QC glitches and immature software, etc), was the LACK of units to sell... sigh... I'm sure they tried, but I gather Foxconn had problems... would have been so much better if they had 500K to sell, rather than the maybe 150K... so they could do online, telesales, in-store with plenty to go around... oh well... dems the breaks...

[Tekknology]

Anyone know how many Pres Sprint/Palm sold this weekend???

Palms stock did really good numbers so the phone is selling well IMO.

[fonefanatic]

as147

All I know for sure is that my local best buy had three and sold out in five minutes (according to salesmen). I called around and nobody had any left except on Sprint store that was an hour away from me. So I drove there and they had 8 left around 1 PM. Rep would not tell me how many they got. But I expect it was probably in the 25 to 30 range based on the sign up sheet they had at the front door.

[Minsc]

So are you saying that they will not roll out anymore until they release fixes ! Don't be silly. That would take too long. Also there must be stock already being shipped or in storage. They won't be holding those up before they ship them.

No, it's not that they won't ship anymore until bugs are fixed - but doing a slow and measured rollout means that if there are some critical problems found by the first "wave" they can get a fix cranked out w/o affecting as many people. In other words, if they go for broke and sell a million in the first week, then any showstopper defects are going to be suffered by a million people. If they only drop, say, 200K in the first week then that's only 200K people affected by a major problem. That might sound silly, but it's a conservative approach analogous to dipping your foot in the water before jumping in.

Having said all that, who knows if that's really the reason or if it's simply a manufacturing issue. But given that this is a brand new platform from a company that can ill-afford bad press, it's not unreasonable to think that they want a small initial release just to see how things shake out.

[wynand32]

I think they sold all of the Pre that they were able to produce so far, and would have produced more if they could have. Given the way they approached the launch, I do believe the analyst who spoke of manufacturing/component/software issues that had constrained supply. It just makes way too much sense given the limited advertising to date. Once we see some serious ad blitzes, then we'll know that whatever supply issues existed have been resolved.

I think that ultimately, this ended up being a very soft launch aimed at the earliest adopters, and they've benefited from it by being able to test the channel's performance as well as the Pre itself. Who knows, we might really be some serious beta testers, a role that I personally have no problem playing because I wouldn't have wanted to wait a few more months for my Pre.

[PreDogs]

If someone cares about apple, they don't spend much time comparing competing products. Apple makes a good product. May or may not have good value, but the product is solid. In this case, if you want a Pre, and it seems like it works well, you're not likely to settle for a 3G or 3.0 and get less capabilities for a lot more money.

[Laxidasical]

Seriously it is important to know how many really sold.

And whilst I don't profess to be a marketing expert I would question the statement from
Disaster who said...

"Actually, it is considered good business practice to roll out in small quantities. This allows them to fix bugs with each successive rollout. Obviously, it would be better to be released bug-free, but this is the next best thing.

So are you saying that they will not roll out anymore until they release fixes ! Don't be silly. That would take too long. Also there must be stock already being shipped or in storage. They won't be holding those up before they ship them.

Also I fundamentally disagree that p*ssing off customers who stood in line only to be told they didn't have enough to serve the small lines of folk at each store is good practice. These folk will go away with a less than good experience and that is what it is all about at the end of the day.

Again I am not a marketing expert so if someone can educate me why disaster might be right I'd appreciate a marketing savvy person to speak up because it makes no sense to me.

Important to know how many...no. In the grand scheme of life, the Pre itself isn't important. However, we are on a website that is dedicated to the Palm Pre. I fail to see how asking a question that directly relates to the Pre on a website of this nature would prompt your reply.

Since you require a reason though...
We've just invested in a new platform of which ongoing support is dependent upon the survival of it's founding company, Pam, Inc. The survival of Palm, Inc. depends on the sale of devices that use said platform. Therefore, the question's importance is justified as so.

Happy?

[Riebs]

On Engadget:

Palm moves 50,000 Pre smartphones in opening weekend

[bubbatex]

If true = sucks for Sprint/Palm, IMO - they should have these online, etc. I expected them to sell more but it seems 50K is a good number according to the article.

[ayman86]

i hoped for ~100k

[northside]

VERY misleading article headline. The article says "probably exceeded 50K". As in the analysts are fairly certain they sold at least 50K but beyond that they don't know.'

Wait for Palm/Sprint's PRPRPR.

Seems to me they sold out wherever they were available. Did they have much more than 50K on the shelves? Can't sell what you don't stock...

[reidme]

Most places sold out, so that must have been all they had.

[grydlok]

only 50k. Sounds more test launch.