Palm says missing holiday blew Verizon sales

Palm could have sold many more phones and even fought off the Motorola Droid if it had shipped its phones earlier, Jon Rubinstein said during the call discussing the company's struggling winter quarter. When asked if the Android smartphone did damage to Palm's sales, the CEO not only agreed but speculated that the Pre Plus could have been a serious threat to the Droid if it hadn't been delayed to January. Rubinstein argued that since the webOS phone is arguably better, its sales should have been better as well.

Although never directly substantiated, rumors have existed claiming that Palm's Verizon phones faced a software-related delay that forced them to miss a late 2009 target. A delay of the sort would have given Verizon less incentive to heavily advertise Palm.

Whether planned in the long term or not, the Droid ultimately became Verizon's "halo" phone for last fall and led to an extremely aggressive ad campaign that included numerous TV spots as well as an interactive Times Square display that guaranteed large amounts of exposure. Palm, meanwhile, has had specific Verizon ads but only as part of a regular rotation.

By Electronista Staff