For Palm And Sprint, It’s All About Pricing

Palm and Sprint have yet to set a price, but speculation is that it will be $199 with a two-year contract. I think Palm should keep the price point even lower than this to get people who are interested in the phone to switch over from their current carrier. I would like to use the Pre, but for $199, I’m certainly not going to jump ship from my iPhone @ AT&T, or my upcoming Blackberry Curve 8900.
The real telling point in whether or not Sprint will make a deep impact with this phone is Data pricing. As of last year, the carrier had an unlimited Voice/Data plan for $99, which is somewhat cheaper than a Blackberry or an iPhone, but it could be even better. Over the last two years, both companies have been struggling with revenue and customer service issues. Last year’s 4th quarter for Sprint saw a $29.5 billion loss, and Palm’s market cap has dropped nearly 50% for the year. We’ll see if the Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, can come out of the diner and face this issue head on.