Seeing as I do not call the shots at Palm - or even work for them for that matter - I obviously have no say in what Palm does. However, with the amazing sales success that the Centro has turned out to be, it is surprising the limited amount of Palm-branded accessories available for their baby smartphone. Granted, there are plenty of aftermarket accessories available, but there has definitely been a shortage of official Palm add-ons. Apparently someone has gotten the message and Palm has announced two new accessories, a Centro-specific cradle (sans extra battery charger, which is a shame considering the small stock battery) and a new audio adapter. Not quite the whirlwind that I've been expecting to see, especially with the amount of new, first-time smartphone users Palm could sell accessories to, but it's a start.
In addition to the new accessories announced, apparently Palm issued a letter to retailers on May 1st repealing it's MAP policies. For those unfamiliar, MAP policies apply to the minimum advertised prices on products, usually put in place by manufacturers to maintain higher sales prices and avoid deep discounts. An interesting twist, the aforementioned cradle can be purchased for $29.99, a far cry from the $69.99 price point from the previous cradles. Is Palm singing a new tune? Perhaps Palm has their eye on saturating the market with these lower price points as opposed to higher margin products. What do you think? Sound off in the forums...
[via PalmInfoCenter.com]
