So the rumor mill has been churning today. Today’s topic, a courtship between Apple and Verizon.
The first rumor of the day (yesterday really) is that Verizon is looking to be the provider for the data services of the new iSlate tablet thing that will be announced next week. The iSlate is the tech du jour this month, so this would be a big win for Big Red.
The next rumor came out this afternoon claiming that it is possible that Apple may announce next week (or perhaps later in the year) that, according to Wired, the iPhone itself will be gracing The Network sometime this year (probably this summer).
So the question I have is…what happens to the Pre and Pixi Plus that are to roll out next week? If Verizon has the “jesus phone” coming to their neck of the woods, will they get behind the Palm devices and market them the way that they should?
My guess is, like the folks from Wired say, if they are getting in bed together, they won’t announce it next week so that the tablet can keep the spotlight. However, if they announce that the new device will be on Verizon, it isn’t a big jump to conclude that the phone is coming at some point.
Overall, I don’t think this can be good for Palm. While I truly believe that the Pre can stand toe to toe with the big gorilla feature wise, it cannot be denied that Apple has captured the imagination of this country (and much of the world), and there is a lot of pent up demand for the device on the other carriers. If they announce it next week, then I think the sales of the Palm devices will be weak. If they hold off till June, then at least Palm will have a window of time all for itself.
What do you think? Do you think it will hurt sales of the Plus devices, or is there enough of an anti-apple contingent out there that will flock to the Palms?
I don’t tend to flock to any one company or device. As a Verizon customer I’m a tad bit interested to see what takes place over the next week.
With the Droid already available, and the Nexus One coming soon. I don’t think the iPhone will pose that much of a threat to the Pre Plus. There are customers who know they want the iPhone without considering any other phone, that’s fine. But for the educated smartphone consumer, they know they can choose from an Android phone, maybe an iPhone and also the multi-tasking monster, the Pre Plus.
I think it’s a problem. Even in V doesn’t announce the iPhone until the summer a deal could mean less interest and investment from Verizon in marketing of the webos products…
Verizon put on quite a show for the DROID. I hope they have a similar plan for the Palm devices. We’ll see next week I suppose.