Sprint CEO: Palm Pre "shortage" likely

Echoing earlier reports that Palm might have only a limited number of Pres on hand for its June 6 launch, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse warned Tuesday that the carrier "won't be able to keep up with demand" for the long-awaited handset. Looks like someone's hoping for a sellout.

"We don't intent to advertise it heavily early on because we think we are going to have shortages for awhile," Hesse told audience members during a J.P. Morgan-sponsored tech conference yesterday (this according to All Things Digital), just hours after Sprint finally announced pricing ($199 with a two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate) and availability details for the Pre. (Click here for my hands-on impressions.)

"We won't be able to keep up with demand for the device in the early period of time," Hesse added.

Hesse's comments immediately bring to mind this report from Bloomberg in late April, in which analysts speculated that Palm might only have about 375,000 Pre handsets ready come June 6—a relatively small stockpile that would likely lead to a quick sellout. (Remember that Apple sold a million iPhone 3G handsets worldwide in its first three days of release, as Bloomberg noted.)

Of course, there's nothing like a sellout to generate good buzz, and as one analyst told Bloomberg back in March, "It's important to have a success like selling out … the Pre has to live up to the hype."

A short supply of handsets (if that's truly the case) is, naturally, a good way to Palm and Sprint to hedge their bets of a sellout, and as All Things Digital writer John Paczkowski writes: "One of the simplest ways to create a shortage, and the buying frenzy that typically accompanies them, is to announce that there will be one."

Of course, there's another factor in play here: The strong possibility that a new, upgraded iPhone might be announced just a couple of days after the Palm Pre goes on sale.

A sold-out Pre may well steal the thunder of a new iPhone; then again, would-be Pre customers might get impatient and go the iPhone way instead, especially if the new model (assuming there is one) is impressive enough.

So, what do you think—willing to wait for a Pre if it ends up selling out? Or would you rather just snap up a new iPhone (or another smartphone, like the BlackBerry Storm) instead of biding your time?

Related:
Sprint CEO to Pre Buyers: Get Your Sleeping Bags Ready [All Things Digital]