UPDATED: A rumor has cropped up that fits squarely in the “why would they do that?” department. BGR is reporting that Palm is suspending the production of the Pre and Pre Plus, and maybe the Pixi, too. The report originates with OTR Global, and supposedly comes from three different sources. It is claimed that the manufacturer of the Pre, Foxconn, has been told to suspend production in February and that no one knows if it will resume in March.
Key sources in the Taiwan handset supply chain said Palm Inc. has ordered assembler Foxconn International Holdings Co. Ltd. to suspend production of both the Pre and Pre+ in February. “The decision is very sudden, and Foxconn was told to reduce all February Pre forecast to zero on Wednesday and nobody knows whether shipment will resume in March,” said a key source. The source said the CDMA2000 Pre to Sprint and the CDMA2000 Pre+ to Verizon were affected.
One of the sources is reported to also state that Pixi and Pixi Plus production is to be halted, while a second source said the Pixi Plus would continue. The Pixi Plus is the newest version shipping to Verizon in the U.S.
This is pretty hard to believe as far as rumors go, as there isn’t a good explanation that can be given for such a move by Palm. If the company is being acquired, it doesn’t seem likely it would halt production of its products. If they are going to roll out new phone models at MWC they would still have a commitment to Sprint and Verizon in the U.S. The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus were only announced last month so new models are unlikely.
This report also flies in the face of evidence that is growing that Palm will begin selling phones to AT&T in a few months.
It’s beginning to look like Palm is simply stopping production for the Chinese New Year. Now that makes sense.

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