Trade In Your Old Handheld for $100 Off Treo

Posted By: Ed Tuesday, May 7, 2002 9:15:08 AM

Handspring has announced deals for both current handheld owners and Cingular wireless users.

The company has created the Trade up to Treo program, which lets owners of any existing handheld get a rebate for $100 off the purchase of either the Treo 180 or 180g. There are a few restrictions, the main one being the Treo must be bought at Handspring.com. This offer is good now through June 2.

Visor owners can get an instant rebate by entering their Visor's serial number. Other handheld owners need to fill out a mail-in rebate form.

This offer is good for any PalmOS, WinCE, Pocket PC, or Symbian handheld, or an Apple Newton, RIM Blackberry, Casio, Psion, or Sharp handheld.

Only one rebate is allowed per customer and it isn't necessary to send the old handheld to Handspring.

Cingular Wireless Users
When current Cingular Wireless GSM customers sign a new 12 month service contract, they qualify for $200 off the cost if they buy a Treo 180 or 180g, which will be $400. This is thanks to a special offer from Handspring. This is the same deal offered with activation of a new service plan. People who take advantage of this are also still eligible for the Trade up to Treo program.

The Treo line of GSM smartphones was introduced in the last few months. The Treo 180 has a built-in keyboard while the 180g uses Graffiti for text input. Both of these have monochrome screens and normally cost $400 with a service contract.

Thanks to robrecht for the tip. -Ed

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They must not be selling well

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 10:25:33 AM #
uh oh.
RE: They must not be selling well
C @ 5/7/2002 10:40:37 AM #
The last time handspring did this as I recall was with the visor edge they reduced the price by 100 dollars when you provided a serial number of a handheld. Then they went and made the price of the edge 100 dollars less anyway. I think that it will happen with the treo again.

RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 10:55:26 AM #
I think it has less to do with the rate of sales, and more to do with the fact that a newer TREO model is going to be coming out very soon.
RE: They must not be selling well
montyburns @ 5/7/2002 10:56:36 AM #
yes, and they want to get the old models (that aren't selling well) out before the new models make arrive.

RE: They must not be selling well
Ed @ 5/7/2002 11:49:05 AM #
You guys don't have to guess this. When Handspring announced its most recent quarterly financial results last month, company execs said it shipped 47 thousand Treos to retailers during the first quarter of this year but sales to consumers have been smaller than hoped.

"We are seeing sell-through at a lower rate than we had predicted,'' said Donna Dubinsky, the CEO. The company plans to increase its marketing efforts.

I agree this should be a priority. I've never seen an advertisement of any kind for the Treo.

---
News Editor

RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 11:57:07 AM #
I've heard this 47,000 shipped Treos thing before and I'd like to know where they are. Not only have I not seen a single ad for the treo (unlike the QCP-6035, for instance), I haven't seen one on the shelves of the giant retail stores (Staples, BestBuy and Compusa) in Boston. Now, I know Boston isn't the centre of the known universe, but still... Handspring needs better marketing, all around. Product placement in a movie, anyone? I can just see Jeff Goldblum uploading a virus to the alien mothership WIRELESSLY!
RE: They must not be selling well
fkclo @ 5/7/2002 1:13:53 PM #
In Hong Kong, the sole distributor of Handspring is offering similar offer (HK$800 off) - as long as you trade in a PDA or mobile phone of any make and model and age. No subscription contract is required.

A friend of mine pick up one immediately after he saw the adv.

RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 1:38:56 PM #
In Singapore, there been hardly any marketing being done by the local retailers or distributors and the price of the Treo is simply too expensive and with a contract bind to it.
RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 2:53:56 PM #
" company execs said it shipped 47 thousand Treos to retailers "

And how many of them were sold to customers ??

Ship these Treo to the retailers is not equal to selling them to the customers. Retailers may have tons of it in stock and just cannot persuade their customers to get one.

RE: They must not be selling well. havent seen anyone
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 4:52:09 PM #
I havent seen anyone carrying any treo phones. it is just too damn expensive and with cellphone carriers right now thats always changing rates, people just dont want to be stuck with a single cellphone provider for more than one year. unless treo can be compatible with all providers.

I dont hate the treo line, im thankful theyre starting to make them but its not the time for me... Soon but not at these rates.

its just too much money......


graph

RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 5:35:43 PM #
Treo Contracts goes for one year.
RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 5:59:18 PM #
They need marketing in a big way. They are used to selling their previous models in large numbers because - to a large extent - it relied on the 'PalmPilot' recognition factor with the public. I can't believe they don't get this. In the entire PDA world, the public knows 'PalmPilot' and to a lessor extent 'iPaq'. That is it. Everything else doesn't register hardly at all in the collective consciousness of consumers. Unlike handsprings previous devices, the Treo doesn't 'walk, talk and look like' a Palm. So, since they've basically bet the company on the Treo line, they'd better follow up by betting the companies $$$ on a massive campaign (re: TV) in Europe, North America, and Asia. And they shouldn't even think about featuring anything in these ads except the upcoming color 270 (which should have been out months ago) or else they'll just look like some sort of lessor RIM device in the eyes of the public. Come on Handspring - think SEXY!!!!
If they don't do this, they'll go from hero to zero so fast it will be some sort of corporate world record.
RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 7:49:03 PM #
It's dead.

Treo, despite it's handheld parental origin, is a phone in the eyes of customer. It's the 1 yrs contract that kills, with it a customer has to consider it as a phone first PDA second.

GSM, for eg. takes higher priority than the OS or application available.

It's pretty conclusive now, in order for a wireless PDA to be a winner it has to be a pretty darned good phone first, than good PDA. It has to fullfill price, coverage, contract agrement, design attractiveness, and carrier service, before peddling the PDA side.

By sales measure, treo is a flop. It doesn't even register in PDA sales, let alone telephone sales. Customer just ignore it except for die hard Handspring users.


-------
To editor,

you can steal this analysis, erased it and pretend you come up with the idea first.

enjoy.

RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 11:18:22 PM #
Its not 'dead'. This is an overstatement. All too frequently people on this forum jump to big conclusions without fully comprehending the totality of the situation. It takes time to get the ball rolling with a new consumer product space (smartphones). I finally (tonight) saw an ad from a service provider that actually showed the Treo. Handspring has been cutting some interesting deals (including in Asia as well as with Sprint) now if they would just go ahead and gamble a ton of money (they have nothing to lose cause if they don't.....) on a big colorful - and long running - ad campaign (as i said above) they might be able to turn it around. They have the Blazer browser for god-sake!! Why not hammer the public with the idea that they can view the same web-sites/content that they are used to on their PC? No one is hitting on this in the media in a big way. Colorful shots of websites with graphics. Play up standard email as well (as opposed to some propritary phone or RIM gunk.
RE: They must not be selling well
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 11:30:04 PM #
With all due respect, I don't think any of you have actually seen or used the Treo. I have never been a Handspring fan, using a Palm since the original Pilot (remember that one). I have had the Treo for a month now and have never used a better device. While it has some problems and I hope they address them (simple software glitches), I pitched an i705 and ATT phone and never looked back. Let me give you an example - I upgraded to 500 sms messages and set up my email account to forward to my sms address, the result, for $2.99 (decimal is in the right place) I get email headers and first lines delivered directly to my Treo, in most cases before they hit my pc. When I see something I need, I use the email client to download the email I want. As for coverage, I have had several people comment on the clarity of the connection, ie, much much better than my ATT Ericsson phone. When I showed mine around, 4 other people I work with bought them within a week. BAettery is not great, but sufficient, and it's LiIon, meaning no memory !!!

This is a simple, highly effective tool that ANY mobile professional would love. If I caould add anything, it would be a bluetooth earpiece (are you listening Handspring ??) PS - I am not a Handspring investor or employee, or financially tied in any way.

Too bad it's with Cingular

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 11:49:22 AM #
Cingular service (GSM in the US in general) sucks big time. If it was AT&T or Verizon I'd probably pick one up.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 11:59:30 AM #
Can you elaborate on "sucks"? What is bad about it? Dropped connections? Poor quality?

Just asking, because I was thinking of jumping on this offer with VoiceStream service. But if the US GSM quality in general is really that bad I might hold off for the Sprint version.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 12:14:51 PM #
cingular has a few issues, especially in southern california.

1. oftentimes when you try to make a call you will get a 'system busy'. very often.

2. i would receive calls while fishing three miles off-shore (san diego), but not in my apt.

3. cingular bill was never once what i signed up for. i now have verizon and my bill is always what it should be.

4. cingular voicemails were all screwed up. someone will call, phone won't ring at all, all of a sudden your phone beeps says you missed a call.

5. dropped calls.

6. horrible coverage area.

7. $0 spent in 2001 by cingular on customer service.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
ahecht @ 5/7/2002 12:34:31 PM #
Cingular sucks in terms of piss poor coverage. I have a cingular phone, and often have to borrow a friend's phone who has AT&T or Verison because I don't get a signal and they do. The only place i've had good service with Cingular is in Las Vegas.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 1:14:06 PM #
Must depend on where you are. My Cingular coverage has been way better than previous providers. I think it's all location-based. Some groups just have better coverage in certain spots. Best bet is to try friend's providers where you spend your own traveling time and figure out the best carrier based on where you use a cell phone.
Don't know that Sprint would be much better.
Leech @ 5/7/2002 2:33:49 PM #

Someone mentioned Sprint. Their coverage in the NY/NJ/Philadelphia metro areas is lousy, there are large chunks (even on major highways) with minimal coverage.

Can't understand why they only make these things for GSM. Verizon has the larger market share, I think they're CDMA or TDMA.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 5:09:56 PM #
Good, I thought I'm the only one suffering from Cingular's poor service.

Last month, they charged me $120 for a $29.99 plan, and they pissed me off when they said that when I bought the phone, I didn't bought the plan. WTF! I've been using it for almost a year, and what happen to all the previously bill? Are they blind of something? Stupid ass!

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 5:31:17 PM #
I'm using Verizon, but my wife is on Sprint. There are times where my phone has has perfect lock and my wife is constantly going in and out of service.
My co worker is on Cingular, and primarily because of one thing, SMS. And the SMS is so conjested here in Northern California, that it sometimes takes as long as 3 hours for some messages to get through. Totally bizzare.
Make sure you compare all the plans before jumping in. Like Verizon nighttime minutes starts at 7pm and Cingular starts at 9pm.

RE: Too bad it's with Cingular
cp31 @ 5/7/2002 7:14:33 PM #
same thing happens to me in san diego with my cell

Color! Color! Color!

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 12:55:37 PM #
Also CDMA! CDMA! CDMA!
RE: Color! Color! Color!
Ed @ 5/7/2002 1:03:33 PM #
Last month, Handspring promised to release the color GSM version of the Treo, as well as the CDMA version (which rumor says will also be color) before the end of June.

---
News Editor

GPRS??

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2002 2:01:36 PM #

When will Cingular and VoiceStream have nationwide GPRS service? The Treo is infinitely more useful at that point.
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