Palm Centro hits two-million sales mark, “beats” iPhone

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 30 July 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! Smartphone maker Palm, which once enjoyed the incredible media, consumer and developer attention currently being lavished upon the iPhone, has shown its far from out of the race by shipping more than 2 million of its Centro models, while an ad network report shows more mobile Internet ads are served to Palm devices than iPhones. Although the iPhone is currently available in 22 countries, with another 20 to come online come August 22, Palm currently sells the its Centro smartphone in more than 25 countries in the Asia Pacific, North America, South America and Europe. This has helped it to sell more than 2 million units, although clearly not as fast as Apple sold 1 million units – reported to have happened in only 3 days. Nevertheless, Palm’s Centro is still a capable and popular device, and despite using the somewhat ageing Palm OS, it’s still very solid and has features and capabilities Apple still haven’t yet implemented. This includes basics like video recording and MMS messaging, but also more important features such as a much more capable calendar/organiser, something that has annoyed long-time Palm and Windows Mobile users, now using the iPhone, and expecting a far better calendar experience. Palm also has a rich legacy of software for the Palm OS, and new apps continue to arrive – one of the latest is a Facebook app, although the Centro itself also comes pre-loaded with Google Maps, the Blazer browser, Documents to Go Professional version 10 and more, making it a true mobile productivity tool and mini computer. Palm have also used AdMob statistics to show that more mobile advertisements are being served to Palm devices than iPhones, whether on worldwide or USA figures. AdMob claims to be the “largest advertising network on the mobile web” and have published a report www.admob.com/s/solutions/metrics which looks at mobile ad stats worldwide. Clearly those figures aren’t the only indicator of mobile browser popularity, but in most of the world Nokia is at No.1 (with Motorola No.1 in the US), and Palm has a larger market share than Apple’s iPhone, although Palm has had smartphones in the market for years longer than Apple which has only really just clocked up little more than a year on sale. In May, the Palm Centro was No.8 on the worldwide list, and has moved up to 7th spot in June (with the iPhone one spot behind) – although in “worldwide mobile advertising reach” it ranks at No.3 – see page 2 for details. Palm also quotes AdMob citing “the growth of inexpensive phones, such as Palm Centro, as a primary driver in mobile Internet usage.” So, what does the Centro cost compared with the iPhone, what other features does it have and why does Palm think the Centro is doing well? Please read on to page 2. << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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