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Talk about long lines, Gadgetell has the report from a Sprint representative that thousands Palm Pre units are on back order in the entire USA.  Sprint is on the record reporting that the Palm Pre launch was the biggest in the company’s history and the line that has formed for the new phone surely tops waitlist records as well.

Super smartphone

Sprint’s Palm Pre is tracking to become a serious player in the smartphone world.  Many of said its WebOS is ahead of even the iPhone, whose operating system still can’t handle background tasks like the new Palm can.  Analysts suggest the Palm Pre is the phone that will save/doom Palm’s future.

How many?

According to Gadgetell sources, in Chicago alone, 4,500 Palm Pres are on back order.  Another report out of St. Louis says almost 100 are back ordered, just at one location.  Palm warned of low initial stock of the phone, which most outlets viewed as a way to build hype, but 4,500 back orders in one city says demand for the phone is off the charts.

Could it be that of the 50,000 reportedly sold opening weekend, that thousands more still have not been delivered?  Is the shortage marketing plan really working as more and more people have to get in on the fun or is Palm in a pickle over delivery?

When

On the bright side for those waiting for their Pre, supply looks to be coming quick.  According to Sprint locations, new shipments are arriving daily.  The question of are these shipments enough to meet demand remain to be seen.  Typically ocean freight is scheduled months out; it is unclear if Palm was ready for the apparently big demand for its new beast.  But there looks to be an internal Sprint battle brewing.

What?

According to internal Sprint protocol, Sprint stores that order more phones move up the priority list, which makes some sense.  However, the sense stops when these locations start to bid the number up to move more units.  We could be looking at a glut of phones fairly quickly as stores try to outbid others in efforts to get the phones in and out the door.

Sprint says

Sprint kindly responded to my inquiry for confirmation on the back order numbers with:

“With the strong customer response to the launch of Pre, as expected, Sprint has sold out in many locations.  Sprint is getting the device in to its retail locations as fast as Palm can make them.

Sprint doesn’t comment on rumors about inventory.”