Cingular Branded Colored Treo 680's Soon

Treo 680Palm has updated its online store and is no longer selling the unlocked Treo 680 colored versions. Instead only the Graphite Treo 680 model is available to be purchased unlocked and without a contract. The store also notes that the colored version will shortly be sold with Cingular service from Palm.com, while the colored versions will no longer be available unlocked.

A footnote posted by Palm on the 680 product page states:

Effective February 15, Palm will begin selling Cingular-branded Treo 680 models in crimson, arctic and copper colors. Previously, those colored models were available only in unlocked versions from Palm. The unlocked Treo 680 graphite version will continue to be sold in the United States.

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The headline may not be completely correct

SeldomVisitor @ 2/13/2007 3:26:36 PM # Q
RE: The headline may not be completely correct
Ryan @ 2/13/2007 3:33:36 PM # Q
Thanks for pointing that out. I reworded the headline and made that more clear in the article.

So the question now is whether this will be a Palm.com exclusive or if Cingular retails stores will also carry the colored versions.

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
cervezas @ 2/13/2007 5:40:53 PM # Q
So we're worried that Cingular might like the colored models well enough to subsidize them, but not well enough to publicize them? And that would be because... they're afraid someone might buy one just because of the shiny color and not for the right reasons? (Palm, as we know, lacks such scruples!)

I guess that could keep one up nights. ;-)

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 2/13/2007 6:26:55 PM # Q
Uh...no.

Cingular might like the colored ones enough to subsidize each when it is sold, but won't buy any up-front from PALM.

Do you understand the PALM-important difference between this and what you posted?

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
cervezas @ 2/13/2007 7:11:00 PM # Q
Do you understand the PALM-important difference between this and what you posted?

Sure. Still, if Cingular doesn't stock them in stores and they are only found on Palm's web site it's exactly the scenario I described: Cingular would be subsidizing a product without letting people know it exists. Bad for Palm, but bad for Cingular, too. Is there a precedent for this that makes you believe it's a possibility?

The question I have for you and others: don't you think color is going to sell in the retail setting better than monochrome?

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 2/14/2007 5:32:48 AM # Q
Precedent? Got me! Palm is about as close-to-the-vest with information as any company I've seen.

I can imagine a couple scenarios that could result in this, though, especially since the "partnership" between Cingular and Palm has apparently been fairly unusual acting with the 680 and 750.

If Cingular starts displaying cheap color 680s on their website and clicking on those links doesn't pull a "T-Mobile" and redirect you to PALM itself, then we have a strong datapoint (albeit not proof) that Cingular did indeed buy some colored 680s ahead of time (to PALM's benefit). If they do not then we have a datapoint (weak or strong depending on Palm-pessimism index!)that the "partnership" between Cingular and Palm may not be the most robust (albeit not proof).

Needless-to-say, I'll be SURE to do my daily clicking at www.cingular.com rather than merely doing it if I happen to think of it during an idle moment...

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 2/14/2007 5:41:18 AM # Q
[Apologies - I forgot to address the "better sales in retail" question...]

It isn't what sells better where, it is whether or not Cingular wants to buy, say, 4 sets of 20,000 TREO 680s up-front so they can carry them in their stores. Given what we've read about what Cingular =is= going to carry soon (was the date Feb 22nd? I forget - and ALSO forget the device! (might have been HTC or Blackberry or Nokia though)) I wouldn't be surprised at ALL that they decided against buying those colored TREO 680s.

-------

As a corollary to all this it sure would be nice to see one of those carrier contracts, eh?, so we wouldn't have to guess about how "late" a carrier can say "Nevermind! We don't want anymore!" thus sticking Palm with "unsold but branded" inventory.

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 2/21/2007 6:18:58 AM # Q
As of the time of this post using zipcode 20001 I am unable to "buy" colored TREO 680s on Cingular's web site - though it is possible I am doing something wrong with my site surfing, assuming I am NOT doing something wrong is beginning to strongly suggest that Cingular itself is not carrying the colored TREO 680 set.

However, this morning Cingular IS carrying the Blackberry 8800:

-- http://www.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?q_list=true&q_phoneName=BlackBerry+8800&q_sku=sku780093

[aside - it is not clear at ALL how Cingular decides to sort the phones that they display. The TREO 680 and 750 Cingular offers always appeared somewhat far down the display if I remember correctly while this new Blackberry is right at the top]

Cingular now MAY have bought some crimson TREO 680s
SeldomVisitor @ 3/2/2007 6:49:19 AM # Q
Yet Another Rumor:

-- http://tinyurl.com/3bhnd5

Maybe PALM was able to tell Cingular some sales stats and Cingular thus has sprung for a boatload of crimson only.

Or maybe it's all a bunch of hooie!

Guess we'll find out in a week or so, eh?

Wonder if PALM will make a splash about this or let it simply quietly happen...

[hmmmm...if they make a splash won't some Me-Too Media types say something (incorrectly) like "WAITAMINUTE! You ALREADY told us Cingular was going to carry all 4 colors! What's with this new PR saying Crimson only!?"? Giggle]

RE: Cingular now MAY have bought some crimson TREO 680s
Ryan @ 3/2/2007 11:45:45 AM # Q
Palm.com lists all 4 colors available on Cingular.

Also, I've heard from some at Palm that all four colors are being sold about equally.

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 3/2/2007 12:43:27 PM # Q
No no no.

Palm.com lists all four colors available Cingular branded.

NOT "on Cingular".

AFAIK - and I check daily - Cingular itself continues to NOT SELL colored TREO 680s.

Sure, you can buy a Cingular-branded any color TREO 680 - just not from Cingular!

Yet.

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
cervezas @ 3/2/2007 4:16:15 PM # Q
...just not from Cingular!

Yet.

Good point on the "yet." ;-)

I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'....


David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 3/2/2007 5:08:12 PM # Q
Indeed - that was the whole reason behind the "...MAY..." post a few posts above.

Crimson.

Only.

Re: Cingular now MAY have bought some crimson TREO 680s
SeldomVisitor @ 3/6/2007 6:36:51 AM # Q
Hmmm...it's March 6th.

I don't see Crimson TREO 680s on Cingular's web site.

Am I too early in the day?

Or does the link in the post this is in response to point to Yet Another Bogus Rumor-Mongering "article"?

They're gone, Jim!
SeldomVisitor @ 3/8/2007 5:23:12 AM # Q
At the moment of this post the TREO 680 is gone completely from Cingular's site:

-- http://www.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phones/pda-phones-smartphones.jsp

I used zipcode 20001, you may have to, too.

Maybe they're redoing their pages to show the Crimson one and haven't learned how to do things offline yet?


RE: The headline may not be completely correct
SeldomVisitor @ 3/8/2007 10:24:35 AM # Q
Minor correction - the TREO 680 is gone from the order-from-Cingular consumer pages of Cingular's site - the link above is correct.


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I <3 copper Treo

legodude522 @ 2/13/2007 3:31:53 PM # Q
I want it. Really bad.

Palm m125 > Palm Zire 71 > Tapwave Zodiac 1 > Palm Zire 72 > Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000 + 4gb MicroDrive + Palm Tungsten T|3 (1100mah)
My T|3 is too [i]sexy[/i] for me.
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Glad I got in early

freakout @ 2/13/2007 8:09:54 PM # Q
Strange that Palm aren't selling the unlocked ones anymore, though. One can only hope they'll be back.

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680
RE: Glad I got in early
all74 @ 2/16/2007 7:44:38 PM # Q
"Strange that Palm aren't selling the unlocked ones anymore, though. One can only hope they'll be back."

Sigh - probably not. It is just AMAZING how bad Palm's management is... let's take something that sold out (i.e. copper unlocked) and make it so that only some people can get it. And lets make sure that the only way people can get it is with a carrier that is soon going to have the iPhone, which looks way cooler than ours and has wifi and lots of buzz and is going to considerably diminish the "cool"/"status" factor of the Treo.

?????

Are they TRYING to fold? First it was "lets split into two companies", then "lets let someone completely unrelated to us buy the OS company", now its "lets see how much we can screw up some of our best products". Attention Palm Management: PLEASE, GO AND GET A PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT.

Sigh.


RE: Glad I got in early
SeldomVisitor @ 2/17/2007 9:22:32 AM # Q
> ...Are they TRYING to fold?...

No, they are scrambling not to.

--------

BTW - there is little evidence that anything is getting "sold out", suggesting slam-bang sales sure to make a CFO's eyes gleam.

Instead, we know only of strange availability/nonavailability in rapid succession. This could suggest some sort of supply problem rather than uber-sales.

--------

I'm sure PALM will sell TREOs to anyone that will buy them. Unfortunately, and IMHO, PALM has been absolutely clobbered by The Damn Competition in the carriers' eyes and, I would bet (again, HO), they are having a REAL hard time getting carriers to carry them at reasonable quantities/markups.

--------

It will be interesting to see if Cingular itself carries the colored TREO 680s, suggesting they actually bought 10s of thousands of each. Right now all we can see is PALM carrying them (as of the time of this post the colored TREO 680s are not to be found on the Cingular web pages I pull up using zip code 20001; this could be because Cingular is slow updating their web pages or something less PALM-friendly).

RE: Glad I got in early
all74 @ 2/19/2007 5:28:54 PM # Q
"I'm sure PALM will sell TREOs to anyone that will buy them."

but that's just it - they're not going to sell them to "anyone" anymore. They're going to limit your ability to purchase, forcing it to happen through a single carrier if you want anything other than "graphite".

I would imagine (IMHO) that this is a more to placate Cingular/ATT in the face of the coming storm (i.e iPhone). However, (MHO) I don't think that this is going to work. People will switch to/join Cingular for iPhone, but not for a colour Treo that has fewer features and still doesn't look as "cool". Palm sales (at least in the consumer market) will take a hit, regardless of the strategy that they take now. I think what they need to focus on is "the morning after" - what's going to keep selling after they lose their "coolness cache" to iPhone. To my eyes, it looks like they're trying to get things in place so that people who can't afford an iPhone will see that they can get a "sort of cool" phone for way less if they still go ahead and sign up for a contract.

Why I think this will be a bad strategy is the current psychology of consumerism - people who want something will often buy it even if they can't afford it. Thus, we have massive credit card debt, houses that we really can't afford, etc. The coolness factor of iPhone will be enough for many to go ahead and buy the thing anyway. Those that shy away from that will likely decide that their current phone is good eoungh, or will go for a freebie. Palm has the potential to get really stuck in the middle. If they focused more into the "unlocked" side it would give them a market that iPhone won't have any access to.

Of course, this is all in the consumer end of things. Don't get me wrong, I love Palm products (and by extention really don't like PPC) and would REALLY like to get a Treo myself. I would have done the above credit debt thing already if the 680 had wifi. I just think that Palm is setting up a bad outcome - following on a number of other bad management decisions.


Reply to this comment

Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic

ChiA @ 2/13/2007 8:31:49 PM # Q
I personally prefer a good smartphone in one colour to a mediocre one in several colours.

I've been looking at all the phones that have been announced at 3GSM in Barcelona - even all the business phones are coming with 2 megapixel cameras now! These upcoming smartphones are already making all the Treo devices look very, very dated.

I scratch my head at why people will buy a WinMobile Treo when compared to the better features available on other WinMob devices.

I only wish and hope Palm will come up with a Garnet phone with wi-fi. I am very, very close to switching; I dislike both Symbian and WinMob but the devices do offer some good features! I switched from the Newton to Palm OS and got used to it - it's easy for me to do again.

It's hard to see Palm competing against superior hardware from larger, more driven mobile manufacturers.

RE: Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic
hkklife @ 3/2/2007 12:06:44 PM # Q
Amen


Producing a slew of colors/"special editions"/limited editions smacks of a hardware company circling the wagons and rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic...look at how long Motorola has been milking the RAZR design (and Palm the Treo)!

Palm & Moto might end up as a good partnership after all...both companies know how to perpetually delay new hardware, milk old hardware designs ad infinitum, and are all over the place quality & design-wise from one model to the next.



Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

So what's the best WINMOB Phone if not the Treo?
Gekko @ 3/2/2007 12:26:27 PM # Q

and why?

RE: Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic
Surur @ 3/2/2007 5:02:10 PM # Q
I'm sure it depends on what you want to do. If its Treo stuff a Treo may be the best, but if its navigation or watching TV for example its not. Even writing large volumes of text is best not done on a small thumb keyboard, but would be perfectly OK on a HTC Universal, and the HTC Dash is probably the best executive messaging phone.

With Win Mob you dont have to make one size fit all.
See a wide selection here.
http://pdadb.net/index.php

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...
Hey!! I made associate writer at PDA247. Come see my nattering over there!!
www.clieuk.co.uk/wm.shtml

RE: Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic
Gekko @ 3/2/2007 8:23:09 PM # Q

too many to choose from.



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This certainly made up for all the weakness for Tero 680

ray00pal @ 2/14/2007 4:31:25 AM # Q
LOL. What does palm think their customers are? They are all OLD people. Wake up! If you own a Palm, you are old. We don't fall for stupid color trick. This POS needs some NEW technology, not new color. Moronic managment once again beat Dilbert's boss.

RE: This certainly made up for all the weakness for Tero 680
freakout @ 2/14/2007 8:31:24 AM # Q
I'm 22. (23 on Saturday) Does that make me hip? Probably not, considering the amount of time I spend here. At any rate, I think the colours look great, and the 680 is a top device thankyou very much. :P

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680
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