Even more traces of the Palm Eos "Pixie", the alleged followup to the Pre, have surfaced in recent days, and people are beginning to take its release for granted. Now, there are reports that Palm is getting cold feet.
These rumors come from noted grump Michael Arrington, who, despite a mixed history with hardware rumors, was the first to mention this device, which was later leaked in earnest. Citing anonymous sources, he claims:
Palm has decided to put the Pixie on hold until they have better visibility into how its current models are selling in the market.
But people love the Pre! Why would Palm wait?
Arrington cites the Pre's "low sales rates" as a reason for Palm reticence, which is problematic since the Pre, by any reasonable measure, sold fairly well. Furthermore, it could have sold more, had Palm not deliberately played down launch day availability due to limited initial supply. This report is also strangely reminiscent of some insinuations he made in his original Eos leak, which, by the way, landed before the Pre was even available.
The claim that Palm is waiting to see how the Pre does before they charge ahead with the Eos is reasonable; I would fully expect any company as precariously positioned as Palm to behave this way. This "lack of visibility," though, is most likely a function of early manufacturing woes with the Pre, not a reflection of any kind of disappointment with the device.