Computerworld After Palm Inc. admitted that its smartphone sales were below expectations, rumors started swirling that the company might be sold, or that it could be beefing up its product line with a WiMax smartphone for Sprint Nextel.
Palms biggest fans say they dont want Palm to be sold and hope the cell phone maker keeps plugging away at new smartphones and upgrades to its webOS.
“There are rumblings of a WiMax-enabled smartphone that might turn out to be wishful thinking, but Id like to see that just because Palm needs to do something kind of drastic to get out there and get a good buzz in the market,” said Kris Keilhack, associate editor at Palm InfoCenter, and a Palm device user for 14 years.
HTC has been widely rumored to be making the first WiMax phone for Sprint, Keilhack noted, but other analysts and observers said its possible Palm also would build one, partly because Sprint had the exclusive carrier deal to sell the Palm Pre, the first device based on the webOS, in 2009. Sprint, the nations third-largest wireless carrier, which is also heavily involved in deployment of the faster WiMax technology, has announced a special event at the CTIA trade show in March, but neither Sprint nor Palm responded to requests for comment.
One commenter on Gdgt. com named Oldmanwoerle reasoned that a WiMax phone from Palm on Sprint is a “huge opportunity for both Sprint and Palm to grab a lot of subscribers.
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Getting more Palm smartphone devices on the market with more carriers is what several industry analysts believe will keep the company from disaster.
Verizon Wireless, the nations largest carrier, has been selling the the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones since Jan. 25, although a report surfaced Wednesday that Verizon might begin pulling them off their shelves. However, Verizon officials Thursday called the devices “important” and said they would continue to be part of Verizons marketing lineup. and issued a release describing several features.
Verizon admitted that its initial marketing of Palm devices was “below expectations,” Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein wrote in a letter to Palm employees yesterday. However, Rubinstein said steps were taken to accelerate sales with the help of Palm Brand Ambassadors. He said the campaign was also boosting its marketing with more Palm ads on billboards, bus shelters, buses and subway stations.
The nations second largest carrier, AT&T, said in January that it would sell two webOS devices this year, and some reports put the on-sale date in early May, based on filings at the Federal Communications Commission.
Even T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U. S. wireless carrier, is expected to sell a Palm webOS smartphone by mid-year, Keilhack said.