DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) said Tuesday the eagerly awaited Palm
Inc. (PALM) Pre smartphone will be available nationwide June 6.
The announcement comes as analysts and investors were waiting to
see whether Palm is able to meet its own deadline for the release
of the smartphone, which will compete with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL)
iPhone. Sprint had said it would have the phone on the market by
the end of June.
The phone will cost $199.99 with a two-year service agreement
and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Collins Stewart analyst Ashok
Kumar said earlier this month the Pre could be a huge flop if
Sprint wasn't able to match or price below the $199 price tag on
the iPhone.
Sprint said Tuesday the phone would be sold at Best Buy Co.
(BBY), RadioShack Corp. (RSH) and some Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)
stores. It will also be available through Sprint's Web site.
Wall Street has estimated sales of about 6 million Pre units in
2010, although Kumar said in a note earlier this month he thinks
that number is unrealistic based on Sprint's current subscriber
base.
Sprint is hoping the phone will help it pick up some of the
iPhone's market share and, in doing so, reverse its trend of
subscriber losses. The company has lost more than 6 million
subscribers in the last six quarters.
Palm's shares closed Monday at $12.06, and Sprint's closed at
$5.32. Neither has traded premarket.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com