Palm Centro: Doing Well, But the iPhone's Coming

Palm's (PALM) Centro is proving to be a much-needed boost for the company -- this year, the smart phone will hit 2 million units sold, Palm said yesterday. But analysts think the Centro will be vulnerable when the new, inexpensive iPhone (AAPL) comes out this year.

At least Palm is on the right track. I've been a Treo user this whole decade, and while I always liked the Treos, I always found previous versions to be bulky and buggy. I've had a Centro for a couple months now and think it's the best Palm smart phone yet.

The Centro is on Sprint (S) in the U.S. and is about to be sold by Verizon Wireless, (VZ) too. The iPhone, of course, is only on AT&T's (T) network. So the iPhone won't be a huge threat to Palm, except when it comes to people willing and able to switch networks. Invetors don't seem too worried. On news of the Verizon deal, Palm shares shot up 13% on Thursday.

Comments

[PerspectiveCounts]

The Centro is on AT&T as well, though rumored to be selling poorly there.

As such, one doesn't have to switch carriers to use the iPhone instead.

[NextelAccessories]

It is a great device, very compact. keyboard is small, but that is to be expected with a smaller device