Sprint's Pre Exclusivity: Is Through 2009 Long Enough?
Sprint (S) hasn’t yet disclosed how long its exclusivity period for Palm’s (PALM) new Pre handset will be, but a person familiar with the matter told Reuters Thursday that it will run through the end of 2009, and that was good enough for the company’s long-suffering investors. Sprint shares surged on the report though it didn’t offer any details beyond 2009 or even a ballpark launch date for the device itself. Unofficial estimates have the Pre arriving at market sometime this spring, which might mean Sprint’s exclusivity period for the touchscreen phone could be six to eight months. Whether that’s time enough to reverse the company’s subscriber losses–or even stem them–remains to be seen. Certainly, the Pre would have to debut with an almost iPhone-like popularity to do so.