By Julian Prokaza on Tuesday, 01 April 2008
 We (mostly) liked it and it seems the rest of the world did too, which is no doubt why Palm has just announced that it has sold 1 million Centros in the six months the little smartphone has been on sale (and we’re guessing this announcement isn’t a cruel April Fool’s joke). The Palm Centro is now on sale in 10 countries worldwide, including the US, UK and Hong Kong, but even so, it’s an impressive figure. You can see the full press release after the cut.
Palm Sells One-millionth Centro
Centro Now Attracting New Smartphone Customers in 10 Countries Worldwide
SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 31, 2008 — Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) has sold its one-millionth Palm® Centro™ smartphone, demonstrating the product’s mass appeal to customers ready to move up from traditional mobile phones to one that offers more functionality.(1) Palm is now shipping Centro in 10 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and Italy, and its already-rapid momentum is set to grow as Palm debuts the product in additional countries around the globe
“The Palm Centro is flying off the shelves because users who want to step up to a smartphone see it as the perfect first choice,” said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. “It has everything a person needs to stay organized and connected with everyone who is important to them. We’re very excited about the Centro’s near-instant popularity in the U.S. and think it’s going to be a huge hit as it continues to make its way across the globe.”
Centro was first introduced in the United States last September exclusively with Sprint, and is now also available on AT&T. Centro has reached more young adults and women as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.(1)
“Smartphones are certainly not new to business professionals; however, now more than ever we are seeing consumers migrate toward these types of devices as form factors have become more appealing and price points are now competing with traditional mobile phones,” said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC. “Palm’s Centro plays right into the hands of the consumer looking for a more robust experience on their mobile phone. We definitely expect to see this trend continue worldwide.”
Increasingly, consumers are making the shift from traditional mobile phones to smartphones, motivated by the desire to do more with their phones and the arrival of lower-cost devices. Smartphones accounted for 11 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2007 in the world, and this is expected to increase to 22 percent by 2011.(2) A recent Palm survey of Centro customers in the United States highlighted this trend, indicating that 70 percent are first-time smartphone users. When compared to other Palm smartphones, Centro also is reaching almost double the number of women, more than double the number of customers under age 35, and nearly three times as many customers with a household income of less than $75,000 (USD).
Centro’s full QWERTY keyboard and color touch screen make it easy to quickly type text messages, respond to emails, start instant message conversations, browse the web and more. It offers all of the great organizer functionality for which Palm is renowned, such as a detailed and integrated contacts list and a simple and handy calendar for juggling business meetings and get-togethers with friends.
[Palm Centro]
Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
I got one for christmas and I like it (: 
