Analyst: Palm Pre supply, demand in balance

Palm Pre inventory at its key stores are in balance with demand with roughly 40,000 devices sold a week, according to a J.P. Morgan report.

In a research note, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster wrote:

We have concluded our 3rd round of channel checks for the Pre. The gap between supply and demand has closed at Sprint and BestBuy stores, waitlists are eliminated or down, and most stores now have Pre devices in stock. We believe, since launch, about 270K units will have shipped by the holiday weekend. Demand at Sprint channels seems to be hovering at 40K per week.

Simply put, Palm has weathered its initial inventory crunch and now we'll get a better picture of ongoing Pre demand. Coster noted that shipments to retailers is less frequent than two weeks ago. Overall though, demand seems constant.

Coster estimates that 210,000 Pre units shipped in June and that an additional 230,000 will be delivered in July and August.

Also see: Palm shares up after reported loss; upbeat about future with Pre, WebOS Apple thumbs nose at Palm, reports 1 million iPhone 3G S units sold in 3 days