Is The Palm Pre Overhyped?

It’s really an open secret that Palm is more or less banking its future on that of webOS and the Palm Pre, and it judging by the initial response to the Pre, it looks like the company might just be able to pull it off. A recent survey by ChangeWave Research might put a damper on Palm’s hopes of survival though, as it reports that prospective smartphone buyers are looking to devices from RIM or Apple first, with only 4% of the adults surveyed showing interest in purchasing a Palm Pre, while the BlackBerry and iPhone polled 37% and 30% respectively. To make matters worse, since the Pre will be a Sprint exclusive, the response that only 1% of the respondents would be willing to switch carriers doesn’t sound very encouraging. Hopefully ChangeWave Research didn’t pick the proper group of people to survey or something, but in the end, only time will tell whether the Palm Pre lives up to its hype.