John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

Palm Investor: Your Next iPhone Will Be a Pre

duncejpgPalm investor Roger McNamee isn’t drinking his own Kool-Aid, he’s drowning in it.

In an interview with Bloomberg, McNamee–co-founder of Elevation Partners, which owns 39 percent of Palm (PALM)– claimed owners of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone will switch en masse to the Palm Pre when their contracts expire. “You know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone,” he said. “Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later. Think about it–If you bought the first iPhone, you bought it because you wanted the coolest product on the market. Your two-year contract has just expired. Look around. Tell me what they’re going to buy.”

I dunno, the iPhone 3.0?

A hubristic claim, even for McNamee and one reminiscent of those ill-starred words Palm CEO Ed Colligan uttered back in 2006:

“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

Look, Ed! Behind you!

Yeah, those PC guys never stood a chance…


comments so far. Add yours.

  • http://murphymac.com Brendan Walsh

    That’s the kind of quote that comes back really fast and makes you look foolish, ala Ballmer.

    Everyone is going to give up the apps they bought? Give up iTunes? Switch carriers?

    It’s a rare phone that gets people to switch carriers like the iPhone has. Despite all the Pre hype I don’t think it has that kind of pull.

  • Miles long

    I do think he went alittle to far but the Pre should do well.

    From Ars Technica -

    As a dedicated iPhone user, I experienced something very strange and quite unexpected while watching Palm demo the new OS: my iPhone suddenly felt old and played out.

  • donice knight

    JUNE TWENTY-NINTH??? Did they just leak the release date?

  • darius arya

    The Pre and its WebOS are cogent enough to speak for themselves. They pass phase I with accolades, now they have to pass Stage II with the consumers. It is here where they will garner the support needed to get critical mass. Trumping the iPhone was the easy part, getting critical mass will be uphill only because of its timing. Get it launched before you lose valuable time!

  • David Owens

    Palm is on the cutting edge, all right: of bankruptcy.

    Next phone? iPhone 3.

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