Palm Pre and Pixi Face AT&T Launch Delays, Reduced Number of Units

The launch of a Palm smartphone running webOS on AT&T's network hasn't actually been confirmed as of yet, but that's not stopping the analysts from declaring their assumptions. The release of the AT&T Palm Pre (Plus?) and Pixi (Plus?) has been on the rumor mill for quite some time, and many people think it's just about as confirmed as it can get without an actual official statement from Palm. It would be a great thing to see a webOS device hit AT&T, but not so much if these latest murmurings have any truth to them.

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek has come forward and spoken out about Palm's latest speed bumps, elaborating on some of the issues that the company seems to be having in regards to releasing the two smartphones. The ramifications for the troubles? While the rumor put the initial release of the two smartphones in April or May, Misek is saying that the release has been pushed back until June, or even July. A summer release, to be frank. The strange part, is that these problems seem to be part of a long list of technical issues that AT&T is having with the devices, but Misek would not divulge on any of the details we'd want to hear.

What's worse, AT&T has apparently cut down on the initial order numbers for the two handsets, which would basically mean a soft launch should be expected. And lastly, AT&T has also cut the marketing budget significantly for the launch in general, which can't be painted as a good thing no matter how hard you may try. So, looking back, we have a delayed launch on a major carrier, a minimal amount of units to sell from the start, a trimmed marketing budget, and a significant list of technical issues plaguing the devices. This isn't looking good for Palm, if these rumors are indeed true.

[via AllThingsD]