Sprint CEO refutes Palm Pre is only a six month exclusive
It appears that Verizon may have been a bit premature in saying they would have the Palm Pre in by the end of 2009.
The other day we reported that Verizon’s Chief Executive Lowell McAdam has said the Palm Pre would be on their network in ”six months or so.” Now Sprint Nextel’s CEO Dan Hesse is saying that is incorrect.
CNET News is reporting that Mr. Hesse said at a Palm Pre press event, "They need to check their facts." Mr. Hesse went on to say, "That just is not the case. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal. But I can tell you it’s not six months." Of course that isn’t exactly saying it is longer than six months, it might be only a week with such wording, but it is fairly safe to guess he means that it is longer than six months.
All of this being said, the Mr. McAdam could be speaking of a different device. The Palm Pre is powered by Palm’s new webOS, and while Sprint has the Pre on an exclusive deal, it is unknown if they have the actual operating system tied up also. That seems doubtful due to the development time involved with building such a piece of software, so it is possible Verizon may be getting the webOS, just on a different device.
The Palm Pre is an essential piece of equipment for both Palm and Sprint Nextel. For Palm it is the beginning of a whole new era in the company, and one they desperately need if they are to survive in the age of the iPhone. For Sprint Nextel, it is a chance to keep customers that have been defecting away due to poor customer support and spotty coverage. Both companies need a home run right now, and the Pre may be just the device to do that. This is why it is such a hot topic right now for other carriers. If they were somehow able to steal Sprint’s thunder after they have put so many eggs in Palm’s basket, they could theoretically knock Sprint off at long last.
Expect a lot more back and forth from various CEOs in the coming days and weeks.
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