Palm Pre rumored to be dropping to $150 on September 8th
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 7th 2009 6:42PM
posted September 7th 2009 6:42PM
We've already seen the Palm Pre dip below its $199 list price during a few limited, occasionally inadvertent sales, but it looks like it could soon be dropping well under the $200 mark for a slightly longer period of time -- at least if a purportedly legit leaked document is to be believed. According to PreCentral, the doc comes from someone working at a Sprint "indirect partner retail dealer," and quite clearly indicates that "indirect partners" will be able to sell the Pre for $149.99 (after a mail-in rebate) between September 8th and October 31st, 2009. Presumably, Sprint itself would also be offering the Pre for the same price during that time and, if the HTC Hero's $179.99 price tag on Sprint is any indication, there seems to be at least a decent chance that the price drop could eventually become a permanent one. Either way, we won't have to wait too long to see how this one pans out.
Maybe it's time I buy one.
I doubt it's time to buy one. Still Sprint. Still $150. Still HTML5-based for native apps.
Maybe its because no one wants one and its barely selling.
@Quantumphysics: How is the weather on the iWorld, buddy?
One word quantumphysics: MULTITASKING
Maybe people realize iPhone with 65K apps is much better deal.
Levi, you mean the iPhone comes with 65K apps? Just like iLife is free? And Mac hardware is faster?
multitasking > 65k apps
They could give it away but it's still not an iPhone. Fail.
jacob @
Unfortunately for Pre users, the multitasker becomes useless when it needs to sync with PC/MAC and
the phone has to rely on Apple's iTunes software. :)
Multi-tasking would be a bigger selling point on the Pre if the whole OS didn't crawl to a standstill when you have more than 2 or 3 cards open. Honestly its usually just quicker to close stuff and re-open it when you need it. IM in the background is nice but it's a battery killer.
I'd love to buy a Palm Pre if I could use it at the same time as my iPhone and really evaluate which one is best in normal operation. If I had to make a choice between one or the other, I'd have to stick with iPhone (as most buyers have agreed). Boneheaded statements like "multitasking > 65 k apps" should also note that Pre benefits less from jailbreaking than iPhone does (as the multitasking exists, its just not allowed for non-Apple applications, unless you're jailbroken).
Palm started off the Pre by stating they felt entitled to charge more because their product "does more" than the iPhone did at the time. With Apple's widely anticipated June '09 announcement, that became embarrassingly untrue (with the $99 iPhone 3G their reference point was now hundreds less). $150 would make it more interesting, but being a mail-in rebate is still crappy for customers to wade through.
Already the pricing problem between the iPod Touch and the Palm TX/Palm OS PDA's is ridiculous. $220 /w WiFi/Bluetooth and 8GB vs what? $350 /w WiFi/Bluetooth and 128MB? Bottomline is, Palm needs to figure out how to compete much better than its currently doing. It's simply not working.
Holy shit, I didn't know Sprint fanboys existed.
Price Drop = Low Demand = Excess Supply = Desperation.
Use your own judgment, but the some say short Palm now at $14+ and make $14+ per share within a year. $10k shorted may turn into $140k. Yummy.
"Multi-tasking would be a bigger selling point on the Pre if the whole OS didn't crawl to a standstill when you have more than 2 or 3 cards open."
I have 7 cards open right now and its doing fine for me.
You running iTunes on there?
@ Alan
That is some of the worst stock advice ever.
Please short so the stock can get sqeezed higher.
150 + contract. Could we have the real price, with contract cost.
These prices are like buying a house and only quoting down payment as the price, its ridiculous.
iPhone to Pre migration engaged
@Keith
You don't have to rely on iTunes, that's just there as a convenience for people who actually want to use that software. For those of us who use competent software, it also functions as a mass storage device.
@Newone
Sprint contracts have already had a huge advantage over AT&T's, or anyone's really, except T-Mobile comes somewhat close. It's just the initial cost that was a little higher, but considering the $$$$ you save long term... this is just icing on the cake.
Yet more bullcrap from the comment rankers. Again, Engadget, I ask why do you give the trolls this tool for them to abuse? The comment rankings never reflect the quality or worth of the content of the comment.
Anything that is slightly pro-Apple or anti-Pre gets low or lowest ranked, despite many of them being completely true statements. Anything pro-Pre gets high ranked, and why don't you take a look at those high ranked comments and see if they are particularly worthy or notable?
You are making this a fascist website - one opinion rules and you do not accept that other opinions exist. You even fade them out, hide them, and now it looks like all Engadget readers are of one mind and one faith and we all hate Apple and think the Pre is so much better. Ugh.
Is that what you wanted? To provide the trolls a tool with which to punish anyone who dares have a different opinion, who likes a different device, who doesn't worship the feature du jour?
The comment rankings are NOT being used to hide away rude, false, trolling or objectionable comments. They ARE being used to make the conversation completely one-sided, and to make it appear as though everyone who matters has the same opinion.
Get rid of them, please!
Palm Pre = Loser Phone. Poor build quality. Crappy OS. Weak graphics. And people point and laugh at you on the street if they see you with one. But hey, you can "multitask" 10 horrible apps that nobody wants at once!!!!!!
Palm, next stop, bankruptcy court. Where they should have been 7 years ago.
If you like Sprint, why not wait until they release an Android phone in October? Why buy now, when you can wait another month and have more diverse choices?
Open Source FTW.
WHAT about the HTC Touch Pro 2!??? Lower the price. Sprint is acting like they are being forced to sell it.
OMG iPhone killer!
/sarcasm
The iPhone killer is getting killed every quarter. Palm has yet to made 1 penny of profit in
the past 12 months.
So...I bought one on the 3rd...can I got in and get some money refunded to me or what?
Ahaha, gotta love that feeling. Funny when it's someone else, sucks when it's you.
Linda like what happened with the overhyped instinct as well.
*Kinda
Gotta love autocorrect on the iPhone. :)
Leave her out of this.
iPhones prices fell much more than this at least here in Europe.
I also noticed that the price I could get for my perfect HTC touchHD went down about 150 euros in the last month.
Luckily I managed to exchange my disappointing iPhone3GS with a great HTC Hero.
I'm sure is the effect of everyone waiting for the Nokia N900 and HTC Leo next month (which is also why I'm trying to download the HTC touchHD and the Nokia N97, I'm gonna keep the Hero though, no matter what.
They'll have to pry it out of my hands.
I got it more out of curiosity than anything else because I did'ny know what to get in exchange of the disappointing iPhone 3gs (I already had the N97 and the TouchHD) but it has quickly become my favorite phone and now is the only one I feel I really need.
Instinct was a cool phone. It did a lot of things right and sold a lot. Throw some disses if you want, but it was a success.
@ pennyfan87 :: actually, sometimes the autocorrect is a pain. i hate telling my friend something on his computer is ducked up or telling someone to go to he'll.
@ Jake E rather.. sorry about that. i read pennyfan's comment and the username stuck in my head. looks like i ducked up.
Still $50 more than the same capacity iPhone? I imagine Sprint is subsidizing the hardware less than AT&T which would make sense based on monthly rate plan difference. Unfortunately consumers have spoken -- they prefer a lower up front cost even if they spend more in the long run. That's how the whole US mobile industry works. I feel like if a handset maker can't compete on the best subsidized costs they should really focus on beating Apple/AT&T on carrier choice which Palm also isn't doing. They're also not competing on storage at the higher end. The 8GB Pre at $150 would cost Palm only slightly less to make than a 16GB at $200 or 32GB at $300. Palm isn't understanding this whole economy of scale thing. Flash is cheap -- artificial price points are big profit. If they were making more money on the 16GB model they could afford to let the 8GB go for $99 perhaps and compete with the iPhone toe-to-toe.
Apple gets a cut off the monthly bill, Palm does not.
@DR
Says Who?! hahahaa
Still too expensive.
For a cheese grater :T
how is it too expensive? Unsubsidized is too expensive. But come on, you can do just as much with these things as any netbook pretty much, so why wouldyou say a hundred and fifty bucks is too much? $300 with a 2-year contract for a Blackberry is too expensive, not $150.
It's like people citing how much extra it would cost to own an iPhone when it first came out, as if it were a negative. You're paying for unlimited internet, of course it's going to cost extra! Not even to mention the initial $20/mo was the cheapest unlimited data plan at the time on pretty much ANY carrier for a smartphone.
$150 isn't too expensive for a good spartphone, unless you just don't want one at all, and then you are just being an ass.
I hope when the Pre comes to verizon they have the Pre2 or something :)
Exactly, I am def. not a fan of Sprint, the Pre is awesome, but its still Sprint...
Long overdue. I was expecting the price cut to happen right after Apple announced the $99 iPhone 3G. One really has to question Palm's viability. Palm needs to act fast, yesterday. Where are the GSM Pre/WebOS phones? Palm, the longer you wait, the more painful it is when the slew of Android phones trample all over you.
Exactly. Palm needs to get off their butts and release the GSM version, start pushing more frequent updates, and find somebody to do some apps for crying out loud - how many do they have so far, 50 or something?
With iPhone still doing very well, and the multitude of Android devices coming out, they're gonna be completely forgotten if they don't do something. Price cut is a good start, but they have to go further than that.
Makes sense.
Although WebOs is Great, the phone itself isnt all that. People will notice that when they see the Touch Pro 2's massive Keyboard and larger screen and the lower price point of the HERO w/ Android, Sense UI and the 5MP camera. Not to mention the Instinct Q if thats out in October.
Im assuming Sprint has other Palm handsets in the oven for the holidays (such as the Eos). $150 is a fair price for the Pre (WebOs) and $180 for the Hero (Android) They could easily make them both $199 but that just means dont be surprised when later models cost $199-$249.
I have a sprint BB Tour, its awesome but I'm thinking of getting ATT and the iPhone. I figure every one looks for the next iPhone killer, well that's for a reason, either because they cant afford one, they know its the best, they are cheese dicks or they just like donkey dick, any way,
iPhone, from sprint to ATT whatd ya think ya'll
Not only will you miss the useability of your Tour, youre also gonna miss the price of any plan you would have on Sprint that youll get with AT&T.
The IPhone is pretty with its bright colors and scrolling icons. But People carry Blackberry Tours & Curves for a reason. The IPhone sells because its a simple phone that even Great Granma can use and the useless apps that you pay for. Its a touchscreen Phone...NEVER will it be a smartphone. AT&T would be ass out without the IPhone. Sprint, Verizon & T-Mo get by just fine without it.
there is a simple answer to your question: if you really like browsing the web on the go, you CANNOT BEAT the iPhone and it's safari browser, unless you get the 2G or 3G. The 3GS has the best web browsing experience right now hands down. However, the Pre is a close second, so if you are on Sprint, maybe you should consider it. f web browsing isn't your number 1 feature, then it probably won't be any better for you than your BB. The Tour looks sweet. But the 3GS (actually any of the iphones) are still a better web browsing experience than the BB.
Safari is the biggest reason I don't want to give my iPhone up yet. That and I don't want to take a hit with an ETF. Another decently sized reason I don't want to get rid of it yet is simply becuse of the support. iPhone fanboys cite the bajillion apps as a selling point, and iPhone haters put it down because 99% of those apps suck. However, bigger companies don't just avoid something like this. Case in point, you can get things like an eBay app, Facebook app, MySpace app, Twitter app, even an app that lets you browse your AT&T account and pay your bills without browsing through the internet. I really hope Android and WebOS's marketplaces get this kind of widespread support in the near future, because I kinda want to give the Pre a shot.
In short, go with the 3GS if web browsing is most important to you. Otherwise, I would suggest sticking with your Tour, getting a Pre, or even waiting it out for a nicer Android set.
-1 to Miguel for trolling.
Good I need a new phone and don't want to be an idiot with an iPhone paying 1000 dollars a year for service.