Sprint offers $100 credit for defecting to Palm Pre [U]
updated 02:30 pm EDT, Tue September 8, 2009
Palm Pre gets $100 switcher credit
(Updated with Sprint statement) Hoping to lure in undecided customers, Sprint today began offering a $100 credit for those who buy a Palm Pre while switching away from another carrier. The discount is put on the customer's bill within three months but brings the practical cost of the phone down to $99, or less than half what it cost on launch just three months ago. The promotion is temporary and should expire on October 10th.
The discount contradicts rumors of a permanent drop to $150 due today but all the same point to Sprint hoping to jumpstart sales of its flagship smartphone, which are rumored to be cooling significantly as the initial rush satiated most of the early demand.
While one of the few multi-touch smartphones beyond the iPhone, the Pre is regularly suspected of being hurt by the existences both of the $99 iPhone 3G and the $199 iPhone 3GS, which alternately undercut Palm's price for roughly the same features or add more features (such as more storage and video capture) for equal cost.
Update: Sprint has pulled the offer and has said it was put into its company system in "error," although it has yet to pull the $100 discount from its website and says it will honor the credit for those who have bought a Pre while it's in effect.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2001
sorry pre
the iPhone is IT. I bought one last week and everyone I showed it to who doesn't have one already, ooh'd and aaah'd over it. It's the shiznit. (I bought the 16gb 3gs) Pre doesn't have a chance.