Just three months after Verizon Wireless indicated it would include the Palm Pre smartphone in its lineup of mobile devices, reports say the plan has been nixed. In June, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said people would see devices such as the Palm Pre available on the network. He didn’t provide an exact date, but said it would be over the next six months, about the time Sprint Nextel’s exclusive deal to sell the Pre in the U.S. ends.
Now, however, a source familiar with the situation said plans to offer the smartphone have been scrapped, according to TheStreet.com.
Verizon would not answer questions about whether it will offer the Pre in October or November, and would not comment on whether McAdam’s plan has been nixed. “We don’t provide comments on rumor or speculation,” said Brenda Raney, executive director of communications at Verizon Wireless.
“At this point it’s all speculation with no sources, so I tend to take it all with a grain of salt,” said Interpret analyst Michael Gartenberg. “We do know Verizon Wireless’ CEO said they would have ‘Pre like’ devices sometime in 2010, so if it’s not a Pre, it might well be some other webOS device from Palm.”
“Verizon Wireless does need a deeper smartphone catalog, though, so a webOS device would fill that need nicely,” Gartenberg added. Palm has indicated it will focus on devices using its webOS operating system.
While it is still speculation at this point, observers believe Verizon’s decision to consider nixing the Palm Pre may be because the Pre’s sales at Sprint have not reached huge numbers.
People close to the discussions say Verizon could change its mind because of weak Pre sales. The source said if Verizon does decide to offer the Pre, it will not carry a lot of inventory and…