Verizon kicks Palm when it's down, stops promoting the Pre Plus

Things are not going well for Palm. It's hard to believe that when the Pre was introduced last year, things looked so promising for the manufacturer. Now, the stock is down to $4, the Pre and Pixi have been flops at Sprint, enhanced versions of both failed to sell at Verizon despite high hopes, and AT&T is having problems while testing the pair of webOS phones for its network. So, you ask, what else can go wrong? How about Verizon deciding to pull the plug on promoting the Pre? According to the Examiner, Big Red will stop promoting the Pre at the end of the month. The site's tipster says people are coming into Verizon stores with the Pre in mind, but are flipped to the Android flavored Motorola DROID by reps. In L.A., industry analyst Paul Mueller blames several defective Palm units for some of the problem. Mueller says, "When a device gets returned, people hear about it. It may  not be publicized in the media, but word-of mouth is powerful."  But there is no question that the DROID has taken many possible sales away from the Palm units. With a much larger hi-res screen, many more apps available, solid construction and the free turn-by-turn navigation, the Android device has become Verizon's flagship model. The carrier's initial spots for the Pre focused on how the smartphone was perfect for "Mom" and the gender specific ads might also have been part of the problem. By the time Big Red changed the focus of the campaign, it was already too late. So now what ELSE can happen to Palm?

Palm Pre Plus Specifications | Review
Palm Pixi Plus Specifications | Review
Motorola DROID Specifications | Review

source: Examiner