Sprint's Dan Hesse: Verizon needs to "check its facts" on Pre exclusivity

The exact duration and wording of Sprint's exclusivity agreement with Palm for the Pre has everyone wondering -- perhaps no one more than the carrier's competitors, who are blatantly champing at the bit to steal Sprint's thunder and launch new Palm hardware of their own. Sprint had already officially refuted Verizon's claim that it'd get its own Pre in "about six months" by saying that the deal lasted through 2009, but now, none other than Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is taking a swing at his archrival, saying Verizon needs to "check its facts" over the deal. The dude was clearly choosing his words carefully and refused to comment on exactly how long the company would have a lock on the Pre, but he "can tell [us] it's not six months." That could mean it's three, seven, nine, or 48 -- we really don't know -- but either way, Sprint's real challenge here is that it probably doesn't have webOS exclusivity, which means its competitors should be free to launch other Palm designs whenever they like.

[Image via I Can Has Cheezburger?]

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 5th 2009 12:05PM]

Nice come back by Hesse. I like it and I'm not on Sprint.

If I were Hesse, I would announce the Pre/Sprint deal on Monday June 8th, right before Apple's presentation.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 5th 2009 12:46PM]

It sounds like Lowell McAdam was referencing another webOS phone. Even if it was a mistake, it was a good mistake.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 5th 2009 12:13PM]

VZW & AT&T should be happy. They will get the Palm EOS. See everyone is happy. De La Vega & McAdams can be happy. They will get a WebOS phone, a remodeled Treo 680. Perfect!

[Woody Posted Jun 5th 2009 12:52PM]

verizon is a bitch, and deserved to be bitch-slapped. and I am not even a sprint fan. it was not cool to try to steal sprint/palm's thunder.

give palm/sprint some time to gloat, because for all we know, a new iPhone announcement can put a big damper into all of this.

[hey Posted Jun 5th 2009 1:07PM]

I don't have a problem with them trying to steal Sprint's thunder. Why wouldn't they? The are competitors, and it's in their best interest to do so.

However, I do think it was pretty bitchy of them to do this to Palm. This is a company they want to do business with, and Palm needs every sale they can get right now. If people are going to sit on their wallets too long, Palm may not even exist to release a Pre on Verizon, AT&T or anywhere else.

That being said, I don't think this comment by Hesse matters at all. The horse is already out of the barn. The people who are going to wait, are going to wait.

[jacksplat Posted Jun 5th 2009 2:06PM]

Seriously? You want them to give the other guy a chance? The iPhone announcement is exactly why they timed it the way they did. VZW was eyeing Sprints customers. Let's face it, the Pre is not the miracle that is going to Sprint around. And both AT&T & VZW are asorbing their base. AT&T will lure them away with the almighty iPhone. And VZW is trying to say: "Hey, you want a Pre? don't sign on with them...wait a few months and we'll have it". Both of them just want to strip Sprint bare.

Apple could announce an upgraded iFart application at WWDC and it would drown out any other news. So this was the only time to reach out and spread that the little nugget before the lemmings all ran to their local apple store for their fix.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 5th 2009 2:09PM]

no problem with the comments either...we sit back as cellular customers, and complain about selection on carriers, pricing, etc. If a 'cola-war' like war starts up, we will be the ones who benefit. keep the trash talk up, lower prices, and be more aggressive with the mix of devices that are coming out. That's all I want

[Woody Posted Jun 5th 2009 4:40PM]

we are assuming hesse knows what he's talking about. if he does know, then verizon have no right to spewed the so called rumor. then maybe at&t and apple should come out last month and say that they are releasing a new iphone on 6/8.

if there's any discrepancy that what Verizon said is not true, then why spread it? I'm glad that at least Hesse had some balls to come out and call Verizon on it.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 5th 2009 5:42PM]

Was that really a comeback? All he said was that VZW didn't have it's facts straight. The reality is that January for a February holiday season is just as likely. Around six months isn't a date. It's an approximation. The competition very well may get the phones or just something with the same tech and soft. Who cares. A real comeback would have included numbers. The fact that none have been divulged means the competition may be close to right on the time frame. Meh..

[XChrisX Posted Jun 13th 2009 12:53PM]

Would love to see both Palm, and Sprint succeed, because after all I never want to see anyones business fail. However you could tell by the way Dan Hesse responded(in sort of a nervous jitter) that Sprint would not have a very lengthy exclusivity with Palm, and webOS. However I've got to imagine that like myself, the people that REALLY want this new device don't want it 6 months from now or even 3 months from now they want it now. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see many new Sprint subscribers because of this device. I wish Sprint, and Palm the best of luck!