Palm Pre Knows How to Successfully Launch a Product
© Matt McGee
There is a secret to successfully launching an electronics product, and Palm knows it. The secret is simple; you simply hype the heck out of product and then fail to deliver any to stores which will cause a massive shortage. The media storm will follow, and with any luck, you can get a person or two trampled in the riot surrounding your lack of product. Nintendo started it with the Wii, Apple took it to the next level with the iPhone launch. It looks like Palm might have perfected it.
Sprint had announced the "possibility" of Pre shortages. It turns out that at Best Buy stores, there will be no more than four of the newest handset on the block; at RadioShack, they are only expecting two. Since the launch is happening on June 6th, I am sure that the masses will start lining up any day now. Everyone will be fighting over the two – four available products. These numbers assume that you live in a high sales area on one of the coasts. If you live in Middle America, you can pretty much count on not seeing a Palm Pre until the rest of America cares less. Hey, if it is good enough for the Nintendo Wii, it is good enough for Palm.
I suppose the good news is that the implosion of Sprints network won't happen. That was the sad part of the iPhone launch; immediately after the phones hit the streets, the 3G network melted in many areas. On the other hand, massive phone shortages will be a bad thing because the Pre actually looks pretty good, and Palm desperately needs a successful product to stay alive.
Let the phone hunt begin.
