Palm Pre: why Palm’s innovative handset failed in the UK over at wirefresh sums up what went wrong for the Pre in the UK. I have still yet to see one person using one over here and walking into an O2 shop is exactly as decribed; iPhone, iPhone, iPhone.
“The news from across the Atlantic is looking grim for Palm, with sales well down on initial estimates, and a profit warning issued – and if things are bad there, it’s hard to imagine how much worse they must be in the UK.
Put bluntly, you’re more likely to see a juggling polar bear unicycling down the High Street than see a Palm Pre being used in the UK.
So what happened? Why did such a great phone not get the attention it deserved in the UK?
The disastrous UK campaign
We fell in love with the operating system – still unsurpassed anywhere else as far as we’re concerned – when it was first announced back in January 2009 and looked forward to an enthusiastic UK roll out.
Signed to an exclusive deal with o2, we anticipated an aggressive advertising campaign to persuade users bedazzled by the iPhone that the Palm was a worthy alternative.
And then we waited. And waited, and waited until the Pre finally made it across to the UK, nearly half a year later when the initial buzz had been reduced to the tiniest of fizzes, and the rave magazine reviews a distant memory…”
They shot themselves in the foot in the UK, and they’re doing worse in the Asia Pacific region. Still no word on a release date in the Asia-Pacific region, but a likely timeframe of Q4.
I think it was very dumb that they did the whole delayed release thing. IT wasn’t even due to high demand. People and the media have pretty much forgotten about Palm Pre which makes a late release even worse.
I am just so disappointed that the only real challenger to the iPhone was neglected. Instead we have Windows Mobile 7-who have told all their developers to write from scratch, Android – a fragmented platform without a consistent interface or specifications, ensuring a poor software platform- and RIM who are mimicking palm in terms of an old tired OS sorely in need of a refresh.
I see Webos as the best potential for the future still.
Palm has cash in hand, which means they’re not at any risk.
They could do worse than to try and get some other hardware manufacturers on board.
Also OS 1.4 was properly released last weekend – I’m going to do a write up now, because it’s got to a very nice state now.
The main issues as I see it were
1. Shipped too late and already behind the US release for features
2. Few issues reported with the hardware in the US. If palm fixed those for UK release they certainly didn’t mention it.
3. Price and contract the same as an iPhone. It hadn’t (and hasn’t) reached the critical mass that the iPhone has so it was far riskier. For non-palm lovers why risk getting a pre when all your mates has an iPhone? The os is great but it’s not something you’ll get from 5 minutes in a shop.
4. O2 exclusivity.
5. Where was the marketing?
1.4 is a pretty nice update. It’s shocking we still don’t have an app store that we can buy things on though. Do they not want our money?