It looks like this whole “limited supply on launch” situation is a serious problem for Sprint. So serious, in fact, that Sprint’s leaked launch guide contains a page alerting Sprint sales reps to warning that they (Sprint and Palm) “Can’t afford to sell the Pre to the Wrong Customers.” The Palm Pre should, according to Sprint, be sold to “non-IT centric business” customers.
Sprint is presumably trying to steer clear of any enterprise-related issues with the Palm Pre. The Palm Pre apparently isn’t as well suited for enterprise-duty as its Windows Mobile-powered cousin, the Palm Treo Pro. Sales reps are being instructed to keep the Palm Pre away from business users that need “extensive set of security policies” or central device management capabilities.
Aside from supply pressures, Sprint may be trying to avoid negative press on the Palm Pre during the critical “limited supply” sales cycle. If Palm does indeed ramp up Pre production to hit the holiday shopping season with force, they’ll want all the positive Pre-hype they can get during the Summer months.
If you’re an IT centric user that understands the drawbacks for the Palm Pre but still want to get your hands on the WebOS-powered smartphone, we’d recommend not mentioning anything about security policies or your company’s fleet of smartphones – lest you end up being pushed onto a Palm Treo Pro against your will.
[Via: Ubergizmo]