Palm WebOS, Pre and Pixi – Where Are We Now?
by Joseph Berthiaume on March 23, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Final Words
To paraphrase a great quote from Anand’s original Pre review when comparing the Pre and iPhone: There are some things that Pixi does better than the Pre. There are also some things that the Pixi does not do better than the Pre.
Recently Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein sent out a company-wide missive following Palm’s preannouncement of its less-than-stellar financial results. In it he admits that the launch of Pre/Pixi – Plus on the Verizon network did not go as well as planned, and explains that Palm and Verizon Wireless have met and mapped out a strategy to jump start sales. It was apparently obvious that Verizon didn’t do a great job of pushing Palm’s products, and that Verizon’s sales staff just wasn’t knowledgeable of them.
This week Palm followed up on that pre-annoucement by posting their Q3 earnings which were uh, not good, nor was the guidance the company offered for its fiscal 4th quarter. Following the call, shares dropped nearly 30% amid another flurry of downgrades. Sales were and continue to be poor and there now appear to be a growing inventory surplus.
How they change this over the next 6 months and how sales across all networks over the next year look, will be very important to both the future of the WebOS platform and Palm itself. Niether the Pre or Pixi has made major inroads, at least not in such a way to appear as more than a blip on the radar. Gartner’s latest results show that WebOS devices accounted for a mere 0.7% of smartphone OS’s in 2009. That’s, well, not very much and isn’t a good sign for devices based on an OS that was so well received. Is there just no interest from the general public? Is it smartphone fatigue from the consumer? Even with the release this year on Verizon of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, Palm hasn’t exactly seen major market penetration and the consensus seems to be that we’ll see more of the same when Pre Plus and Pixi Plus hit AT&T later this year. (Update: if you believe the rumors, it appears that release is now being delayed – more bad news) With the dismal sales data, resulting flurry of downgrades from Wall Street and precipitous drop by their stock, you have to be a little worried about the future of both the company and thus the platform.
It really is a shame. WebOS is truly a revolutionary, game-changing OS that does things that none of the top smartphone OS’s can do (yet). Palm has a lot to be proud of here, but they are clearly coming up just a bit short, especially in hardware, and that’s coming at a bad time for the company, especially given the speed at which the industry is moving. Microsoft’s announcement of Windows Phone 7 has cast another hot coal into an already broiling fire. Will we see Palm license the WebOS to phone OEMs as a means of gaining market penetration and staying financially solvent? Will we see a brand new WebOS device – and WebOS 2.0 - before year’s end, and will it turn the industry on its other ear?
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hshendon - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
Not only does the Palm have a great, intuitive OS, it has a development community that is doing truly amazing things.I have apps that change the way I use contacts and the phone.
I have apps that change the way messaging looks and feels.
I have apps that have changed how I navigate and organize apps.
Now, in a release that came out yesterday, I have an app that let's me tap into the full power of the processor inside the phone. The Pre originally came purposefully underclocked. An awesome effort by a dedicated homebrew development group has released a patch that adjusts the kernal to run the processor at 800MHz. This phone now FLIES. I feel like they have breathed new life into the phone and I am very pleased with the overall packacge now.
I really hope Palm gets it going in the right direction, because I could not be more pleased overall with a phone or OS.
(PS -- the form factor and material composition is something I have to agree with the reviewer about. I have addressed this by adding a good quality screen protector and a hardshell case. This has definitely added to the protection and feel of the phone, but I wish the phone felt more solid and indestructible.)
KasperE - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
I believe a point missed in the review of the market potential of pre and pixi is the economic mechanisms of that type of market. Smart phones are marketed i what may be referred to as an increasing returns regime (W. B. Arthur 1989). A product gains an installed base, this attracts software which in turn increases the value of the product. Think Iphone – the real value is the amount of applications available. The effect is two ways: 1) perceived value to the buyer and 2) perceived opportunity to application developers. It can be thought of as a tipping point where the value of one system (iphone vs. pre) becomes significantly larger and off-sets any personal predisposition to buy the other system. Essentially a lock-in one system occour at this point.Apple knows this, and they live by the rules of this game. The launch of the Ipad is a perfect example: Ensure overwhelming and diverse software for the new hardware platform, allow users to use their existing apps. The cost of the Ipad soon becomes negligent compared to he value of the network for which it provides access. Iphone owners can transfer their investment to the Ipad. Oh yes I believe the Ipad will be a success.
Back to the pre and pixie: Having the perfect OS or indeed any technology is not a guarantee for success – far from it. We have previously been locked-in to crappy tech (VHS vs. Betamax). The ball has begun rolling away from the pre and pixis and it will require huge investments to tip the scale back. A niche strategy is probably the only way for Palm: Offer a compelling selection of business apps and attract this segment
/Kasper
droplets - Wednesday, April 7, 2010 - link
A really intelligent post. Thanks for your input. Palm's Synergy could help it be better positioned to take advantage of this market theory. However, knowing that Palm could possibly go bust, I'm relying on Synergy to sync my contacts to my Google account for when Palm can't pay for Synergy servers anymore!inspire - Thursday, March 25, 2010 - link
Hey Joe,I really couldn't help but notice how much you ripped on the Pre for not being 'solid'. I've dropped my Pre plenty of times - just like Ive done with every phone before it - and it's came out of it all with hardly a scratch.
As for the center button on the Pre - it's a lot faster than waiting for an up-gesture for me, and it has never gotten in the way of me performing gestures in the gesture area.
I know these were popular complaints when the device first launched, but seeing you accentuate your dissapointment repeatedly in the article really makes me wonder if you've actually owned a Pre or even used for more than a week.
That aside, I'm really happy to see somebody commenting on the software. Palm has been great in opening up the platform and in continuously working to improve the user experience for me.
The sales are unfortunate. Palm flopped early on with its marketing strategy, and when they finally got a second chance during their launch with Verizon, they started going up against 2-for-1 deals on the Motorola Droid at $200, whose marketing campaign had already established it as a serious competitor.
Palm's main focus right now should be on makin up the market penetration they've lost. They're already losing money, and if they can't figure out something soon, it's going to be bad news for them.
All said, I snjoyed the article - hope to see more like it.
MDE - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
I'm usually not one to openly complain about grammar, but the dollar sign goes in front of the number. It's $100, not 100$. It's not rocket science, but it makes me feel really dumb when I read it.vol7ron - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
Can someone start doing a review of the GPS quality in these phones? My iPhone is great, and I'm sure the Droids and Palms are great too, but I'd like something with a little more powerful --- accurate --- GPS.Maybe something that if you take for a run isn't a few hundred feet off. Or something that, if you go for a drive, doesn't show your dot some odd yards back, saying "turn here" after the fact.
strikeback03 - Thursday, March 25, 2010 - link
I have used both standalone GPS units and computer-based programs with USB receivers which have the same problem. Sometimes it just happens, sometimes it is the program lagging.alainiala - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
It truly pains me that WebOS is struggling so mightily, as the last 9 months have been a true joy for me. I picked up the Pre about a week after its launch and have been beyond satisfied with WebOS... I think what really hurt the Pre was its early problems with the hardware and battery life. The sliding mechanism was terrible in the first few months of the Pre's life, and battery life was pathetic until roughly 1.3.5.I think its almost a foregone conclusion that Palm is destined to be bought out. It would be a shame, but if it meant the continuation of WebOS, it may not be such a bad thing. I have 2 thoughts on who should be buying out Palm... The more obvious choice is RIM. Blackberry OS is truly getting long in the tooth and would seriously benefit from a innovative new OS. Merging BES connectivity with WebOS and a legit Webkit browser would instantly put RIM back in the race in terms of smartphone innovation.
My 2nd thought is less obvious, but go with me here... Sony. Sony's Android efforts have been pretty lackluster (Xperia, I'm looking at you). Now, we know that Sony's industrial design is infinitely better than their software development, so a beefed up Pre with Sony's manufacturing prowess would be fantastic. We know that MS is tying Xbox Live into its Windows Phone 7 Series, so it would behoove Sony to do something similar with their mobile devices. We know WebOS is a viable platform for gaming since the release of their PDK, and all their iPhone game ports have thus far proven this. Playstation Network integration on WebOS would get them up to parity with MS and Xbox Live. Sony would have their own mobile OS to call their own and develop around, and WebOS can live on.
I know its pie-in-the-sky stuff, but heck... better than letting WebOS die an untimely death.
jamawass - Thursday, March 25, 2010 - link
Definitely agree with the Sony angle. Their Palm Clie's were fantastic back in the day.ioannis - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
"The plastic-on-plastic mechanism just isn’t all too smooth and that little bit of grinding sound is enough to make the phone feel a little cheap...It may be the nature of the beast when it comes to the hardware from a design standpoint. To keep the device to a reasonable size, yet maintain the size of the LCD, Palm had to hide the keyboard as they did..."Sliding keyboards are nothing new and there are numerous examples done right. Take the Motorola Droid for instance. Insanely thin profile and rock solid. Having a sliding keyboard should not be an excuse for the hardware woes.
Having said that, Palm should reconsider the 'must have a physical keyboard' mentality. Some of the top sellers don't have one...