Palm Pre has received excellent reviews and it has been estimated; about a million handsets have already been sold ever since its launch in the US. iPhone and Blackberry are the most popular devices in the smartphone market, but the entrance of Palm Pre will escalate the growing battle of the high-end smartphones.
Over the past few years, Palm has lost its cutting-edge reputation. The launch of Palm Pre is seen as an attempt to revive the company’s fortunes.
Gartner, a leading market research company, revealed that the demand for standard mobile phones has been declining, whereas, sales of high-end smartphones will increase by 27 per cent this year, leading to a massive 177 million units.
On 16th October, Palm Pre would be launched in the UK though O2, which has won the bid to be the exclusive carrier of this device in the country.
Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2, said: "With the addition of the excellent Palm Pre to our already extensive portfolio, we will continue to offer our customers the widest range of the very best devices on the market today."
To understand the consumer demand for Palm Pre in the UK, TNS Technology, conducted a survey. This study found that - 26% of the users responded positively towards Palm Pre and would definitely or probably buy the Palm Pre, which is significantly higher compared to only 16% with a similar response in the case of iPhone, when TNS undertook similar research in 2007.
Kevin Evans, Associate Director at TNS Technology, comments: "The Palm Pre is already being touted as the 'iPhone killer' and our research certainly suggests it's going to shake up the market. With other promising new launches including Vodafone 360, MOTOBLUR and next-generation versions of Windows Mobile also challenging the iPhone's position as the dominant mobile multimedia platform, this is an exciting time for the industry and a great time to be a consumer."
