Palm inventory watch: If you want a Pre go to Radio Shack
Palm is replenishing its Pre inventory in drips and has shipped roughly 100,000 units thus far, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster.
Guessing Pre units has become a parlor game of sorts in the tech industry since Palm and Sprint aren't talking. Meanwhile, there are questions about Palm's ability to keep the Pres coming. Coster reckons that Palm delivered 50,000 Pres in the first two days of the launch. Since then Palm has delivered another 50,000 Pres, but inventory is being replenished slowly. Thus far, Palm, which named Jon Rubinstein CEO on Wednesday, appears to be meeting demand.
Coster writes:
Channel checks conducted Thursday, the 11th, suggest shipments to Sprint stores have averaged about 10- 15 units every 2 days, implying about 36K-55K units will have shipped by Saturday (1,200 stores, three shipments of 10-15 units). RadioShack inventory has been replenished once (back to launch-date levels or higher), whereas Best Buy has not received additional units (based on very limited sample). Our channel checks included 28 Sprint stores across the nation, 3 Radio Shack stores, and 3 Best Buys.
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Though we came away with a generally favorable impression of the sell-in momentum that Palm is currently experiencing, we also detected a lot of uncertainty. Sprint stores are being dripfed devices without much certainty or uniformity regarding timing and quantity. A Best Buy associate expressed hope that devices would be delivered by Friday but sounded doubtful.
Coster's advice: If you want a Pre go to Radio Shack. The early adopter crowd has neglected Radio Shack. Simply put, it pays to go where the cool kids aren't if you really want a Pre.
More reading: News without numbers: Sprint says Pre set sales record