I just saw a commercial for Sprint where they highlight the Palm Pre. Two things I remember from this commercial is that they mention the “revolutionary Web OS” and running multiple live applications at the same time (which sounds neat, but do average users know or care enough to make this a big selling point?) and that Palm Pre users save a significant amount over AT&T iPhone users.
I must wonder if this is what Palm wants their Pre to be known for – being cheaper than the iPhone. Certainly the “money-saving” theme is very popular in today’s economy, but are smartphone buyers the right target market for a money saving ad? My initial thought is that if someone cares more about the cost of a plan than the actual phone, they probably aren’t shopping for a Pre or an iPhone. But if they were, would they care more that they are saving about $50/month or that there is a $99 iPhone as compared to the $199 Pre? Positioning themselves as the low-cost player could backfire in this case, and it certainly does not help them out in the long run.
On a side note, as I type this Jimmy Fallon is now doing a skit where he parodies iPhone apps. I can’t imagine this happening with any other phone (or any other tech device for that matter). I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it – no other device stands a chance of unseating the iPhone until they can compete with the Apple App Store. And if the iTunes music store serves as any sort of precedent, it may be a good long while before they can.
