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Palm is tightlipped about sales of the Palm Pre smartphone released earlier this month but one analyst claims the device is off to a great start.
About 300,00o Pres have been sold since the launch on June 6, says Edward Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research. That's the same number of phones sold in one month than Palm did in its entire previous quarter. Palm may have gathered about 70,000 Pre pre-orders in May, estimates Snyder.
An earlier estimate from analyst Mike Abramsky at RBC Capital Research pegged Pre sales at 150,000.
Palm is counting on the Pre to turn the tide for the company. Palm has been plagued by financial woes and in the fourth quarter, which ended before the launch of the Pre, Palm posted a net loss of $105 million, compared to $43.4 million the year before.
The company is now likely to capitalize on the success of the Pre, says Snyder in his report. Palm is likely producing about 15,000 Pre phones a day and will ship one million phones to Sprint, its exclusive carrier partner, in the first full quarter of production, he says.
Still Palm has a long way to go before it can catch up with the Apple iPhone. The Pre has been often mentioned as one of the strongest rivals to the iPhone. Apple sold more than one million iPhone 3G S models in just three days after its release on June 19.
See Also:
- Palm Pre Scores a Modest Hit, Despite Problems
- Palm Pre May Launch in May; Rumor Machine Goes Into Overdrive ...
- 6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is Special
- Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
- Palm Pre Review
- Palm Pre App Catalog Makes a Slow Start
- Palm Pre Hits Sprint Stores
Photo: Palm Pre (Patrick Moorhead/Flickr)
