According to iSuppli, Palm could ship as many as 1.3 million Palm Pres in 2009. This estimate assumes that Palm will release a GSM variant but even without, Palm could sell up to 1.1 million Pres. Described as iSuppli as being superior to both Apple’s Mac OS X and Windows Mobile, Palm’s webOS also has the potential of becoming a significant player in the smartphone operating system market.
iSuppli suggests that Palm could also see tremendous benefit from licensing its webOS operating system to other companies. Palm would be able to exert “a major influence on other platforms as well as the technology supply chain.” Such a move could also give webOS significant growth in the market (as Google is currently starting to see with Android).
On the other hand, the Palm Pre could face shortages due to its use of a Low-Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS) LCD display as supply is limited to only a few suppliers.
Bell Mobility is pushing hard to launch the Pre this summer and there are suggestions that O2 UK will offer a GSM variant of the Pre in time for the holiday shopping season.