2 Millionth Palm Centro Sold

"In another room, a few executives watched Carl Yankowski's interview on CNBC, taping it for playback at the employee meeting that was to commence in minutes. After CNBC announcers gushed over "the most talked-about IPO," the camera cut to Carl Yankowski in the Nasdaq studio. Usually a compelling public speaker, Yankowski seemed out of his element. When asked about larger screens for palmtops, he answered stiffly, "We are well positioned whichever way the market goes."
As the interview came to a close, the reporter said, "I've got to ask you about your suit." Yankowski smiled. He was wearing a very special suit, he let on, designed to satisfy the public's high expectations from Palm's IPO. The shiny pinstripes woven into the otherwise standard wool suit were made from threads of pure gold. CNBC cut back to the studio anchor. "Was that for real?" he asked the correspondent. The Palm managers assembled around the TV set looked at each other. "We're not showing this video," one of the executives decreed. Then they walked out to start the employee meeting."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471089656/

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

I couldn't agree more Geko. PIC has become the Palm Bashing site. Nothing new to see here. I'll be at Brighthand and Palm Addicts.

WHoa, everyone! Settle down. The Centro's more powerful as far as under-the-hood hardware (more available RAM, less lag, better camera quality etc), yes, but not as productive for power users. The Centro is hobbled by an impossibly small keyboard & screen, and underwhelming battery capacity.

I'm not saying that the Centro is a bad device--certainly not relative to other <$100 handsets and not relative to older Treos. But it's not THE perfect "one size fits all" device for every type of user.

The Treo COULD have everything the Centro does if Palm WANTED it to. There's no genuine technical limitation the Treo cannot support My Location, the latest versions of VersaMail & Blazer etc etc. Garnet is still OS 5.x, just like it has been since 2002.

With Palm already crying the blues about razor-thin Centro margins and the marketplace becoming more competitive by the day, the only way to sustain the Centro's momentum going into the fall/holiday season is with more new colors & price drops.

What the Centro improves on from the Treo 755/680 on one hand is mitigated by dimished capabilities on the other hand. Keep in mind that the entire POS market is currently served by a SINGLE device (Centro), with the 755p/680/all remaining PDAs effectively EOL'd and dead in the water for all intents and purposes. That's not a good indication from anyone's perspective that Palm will be able to support Nova/Garnet/WinMob this time next year.

IMO, Palm would have been wise to release a higher-end, higher-margin POS device (at least for CDMA markets) alongside the Centro last year or alongside the 800w this year. But with Palm essentially going forward with a 3-OS, 3-smartphone line, I think both the user & developer communities would appreciate a clearly worded, non-waffling public statement of support for the Garnet platform/devices at least through next year AND some kind of roadmap + w/ proof of existence that Nova is indeed not vaporware.

At the very least, a mildly refreshed Centro 2 with a larger screen/keyboard (maybe along the lines of the rumored Treo 850 FF) & a 3.5mm headphone jack would be a solid way to bridge the gap until Nova is ready. Sad to say, I fear such a beast seems highly unlikely as there have been zero leaks or rumors of anything new from Palm aside from the usual Treo 850 & Treo 500 replacement rumors that made the rounds months ago.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

A while back, I wrote about my hesitancy to move-up to the palm smartphone platform, thinking I would lose all of the benefits associated with my T5's larger 320 x 480 screen, especially for landscaping complex spreadsheets. Well, about a month ago, after having experienced yet another frustrating wi-fi session at a purveyor's hotspot at a local shopping mall, in which I was unable to re-login an interrupted active session, I marched over to my mobile carrier's outlet and purchased a new palm Centro (over a comparable Treo), right then and there, and haven't looked back. This isn't to say I have abandoned my T5, which I still love and find useful for working on large documents and spreadsheets with my portable keyboard, but the convenience of carrying one small device with superb 320 x 320 resoluton, instead of two devices-cell and pda-coupled with instant access to email and the Internet/web cannot be beat. After working-out a few issues with Versamail, following a clean install of my productivity apps, etc., the Centro has performed flawlessly, becoming as indispensable a business tool to me as any previous palm device I've owned-even moreso. I suppose that much like many smartphones on competing platforms, the Centro can be a kids phone too. Frankly, I don't care-that's fine. The Centro just plain works and works well as a business tool. My wife, who uses a work-issued BB 8820, cannot get over the Centro's small footprint and how well it runs its programs. She loves its smaller, full keyboard, and wishes her company would make the switch, provided they do so with push email. For now, I am still working-out how best to maximize and optimize the Centro's main memory in conjunction with an expansion card for lauching programs. That said, those programs that I have successfully relocated to, and launched from, the card, have worked well.

Edited due to sexual reference ... ** What in the * do you people want????????????? **

Mekk,
Let's start with HVGA, WiFi(g), BT2, 3.5mm audio, 1,600+mah, 624mhz, Palm OS, SDHC ... all for $299 + a freakish US contract. Pretty much the same thing we've been begging to spend our money on for fours years. Apple listened and has started marching toward similar goals, but as we know their iPhones/Touches have just flopped and nobody wants them. :-o

The Centro is great for those who don't care to view much and can type on the micronic keyboard. My son (16) has one and it's great. Pretty impressive device otherwise at the price point IMO. Just not what I'm looking for.

Currently milking another 6-12 months at exorbitant ATT fees for my currently renewable Treo 680. Palm offers noting to upgrade to besides a pretty color, so I'll wait this last time. If the "Nova era" produces more SSS and typical innovation, then I'll throw in the towel. I'll make the painful switch to WM, RIM, or Apple.

Not that both of you didn't already know this of course. :-\

Pat Horne

>>>>What in the F do you people want?????????????

To drive you crazy!

In this:
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/your-weekend-smart-car-pr0n/

I agree with Gekko. I was really leaning toward a Blackberry Curve after I broke my Palm m515 and wanted to replace it with a smart phone. Then I looked at the Centro. I was familiar with the OS and have found it easy to use and versatile. I bought the Verizon Centro mainly because I wasn't sure I wanted to pay the $30/month for data, which is required on Blackberry but optional on Palm.
Anyway I got the Centro after searching reviews and finding about 99% favorable ones. I also got the e-mail and web.
I've only had the Centro for about 1 1/2 weeks, but, so far, so good. It is as easy to use as any Palm and the integration of functions is very smooth. I got an e-mail from my brother with his new phone number and was able to copy and paste the number right from the e-mail to my contacts.
Centro is being marketed as a starter smart phone, but it is fully functional as a complete smart phone. I like the QWERTY keyboard better than the odd one on the Blackberry Pearl.
I am pretty happy that I bought the Palm and would recommend the Centro to others as well.

This is just great news. I hope it means that they can confidently put more r&d into Nova and make headline news with that.

pilot 5000 >Palm V > m505 >Tungsten T >A bad win mo 5 pda >Clie Peg ux50 > Tungsten t3 >Treo 680 >Centro

I think it might be important to note that JPM said a little more than "can't get enough".

Why don't you fill out your relating of that particular "analyst" note?

"5 per week" is probably a good place to start, no?

I've checked 5 local BBs (in NC & SC) and none of them have had the 800w in stock or even had a demo model on display. They've all had Centros, of course, but no 800w in sight. Sprint corporate stores remain the only places I've seen with 800w's actually available for demo and for sale. I guess this is one of those YMMV, regional sort of things.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

To be fair and accurate, you might mention that the analyst also estimated 180,000 Treo 800w's would ship for the quarter. So maybe they are only selling 5 per week per store, but apparently, there's a lot of weeks and a lot of stores, and 180,000 would be pretty damn good for Palm. It's not a gajillion, but it's a helluva lot.

As a tip, 1 per business day sounds even worse than 5 per week, assuming you are looking to spin things in the most negative light possible.

Thanks to the replies and fuller details to my original quote.
The 800w is not ramped up to sell like the iPhone, it is more of a business commodity and as such has hit Sprint retailers in lower initial numbers. No exciting in-store frenzy here.
But, this preliminary news reveals that there is some traction in the market for the 800w.
A device that competes favorably to WM competitors rather than cannibalizing other Palm devices is a good move, and incidentally no secret since last years announcements.
3 million in a week? Impossible, but half a million by years end may be doable.

1. Nova will likely never ship, so that's a moot point

2. It doesn't matter how low the iPhone price goes, the Centro is an affordable, unpretentious device with a small, light formfactor and a great combination of a touchscreen and physical keyboard.

Centro is "easy to use" AND has a cool, free Faceboo app AND is available in lots of cool, hip colors. Plus, it's a "3G" device that's been available for nearly a year now, long before the iPhone 3G. AND it's available on both CDMA & GSM carriers & unlocked GSM versions!

3. Palm doesn't care what happens NEXT quarter or certainly not next year. All they want to do is sell as many 800w's & Centros as they can TODAY and stockpile cash.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

Not to nitpick, but the Centro's only "3G" on Sprint and Verizon.

Frankly I think that the comparison between a SRP $99 phone and the iPhone 3G only goes so far. Yes, they're both smartphones, and yes, they both are targeted at a more consumer-centric demographic. But the iPhone targets a much higher end audience, more power-user, more media-friendly. The Centro is lower end, favoring the basic keyboard phone audience, and those who want a few smartphone abilities without the pricetag that comes with the full monty.

Until and unless the iPhone drops to the $99 price point, there's always going to be very limited overlap between the two markets.

They are not positioning this new OS up against Win Mob and I got to believe they hired additional people to help with the software. I'm not saying its going to be easy but I still believe it will be released next year.

Adama;

I was dead-serious on #1 & #3. #2 was so heavily tongue in cheek that I still don't dare risk eating dinner tonight lest I bite my tongue off. Watch the Colligan interview on the CNBC news item and you'll quickly see the tired retread arguments of the "small, cheap, easy to use, Facebook app blah blah blah" that I was referencing. And, c'mon, y'all know I'm fully aware of FrankenGarnet's 3G GSM limitations! It was Colligan that stated the Centro had been 3G since its introduction last year, not me (thus, again, the "3G" comments in #2)!

Apple & Palm are targeting somewhat different markets at the moment, yes. But Apple is quickly approaching the critical mass of total mass-market acceptance with the iPhone line (I predict we are less than a year away from a smaller/cheaper iPhone Nano-esque device) much like the near-ubiquity the iPod has achieved over the past 4-5 years.

With ALP pretty much now dead in the water (article coming on up shortly), I agree with Adama that the signs of life for Nova aren't good. I'll even go on a limb and fast-forward to, oh, November or so and predict that Palm quietly announced on their blog that Nova is being canned in favor of "smaller, sleeker, lighter, easier to use Garnet OS 2" targeting only $100 and below devices for these trying economic times. I'm only half-kidding here, folks. I NEVER expected Palm to latch onto the "low-price" bandwagon so aggressively. Next thing will be the limited edition lime green Centro with an eco-friendly 550mAh battery!

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

>>>I'll even go on a limb and fast-forward to, oh, November or so and predict that Palm quietly announced on their blog that Nova is being canned in favor of "smaller, sleeker, lighter, easier to use Garnet OS 2" targeting only $100 and below devices for these trying economic times.

OUCH!!!

What people are missing here is that Palm is stealing *Nokia* sales. Nokia's specialty has been small cheap (and dumb!) phones.

I'll love Palm for helping to kill kill kill Nokia.

If Palm's going to kill Nokia, it's gonna need a bigger boat. A MUCH bigger boat. And some nukes.

hkk, I was mostly thinking of the whole comparison, not just anything you said... but I do get your comment, having seen the Colligan quote.

They are not positioning this new OS up against Win Mob and I got to believe they hired additional people to help with the software.

They can say that, but the reality is that they ARE competing against Windows Mobile. There's only so many niches in the smartphone market, and WM is playing for all of them. Wherever they aim Nova, they'd be hitting WM and to a lesser extent Apple.

I'm not saying its going to be easy but I still believe it will be released next year.

Shrug. It's not impossible, but I'm starting to get the same feeling I did with first Cobalt, then ALP: the longer things go, and the quieter it is, the less confidence I have.

Now waiiiiiiiiiiiit a minute...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az-XhTBnlOc