Investing to Wealth

Filed under: Launches, Apple Inc (AAPL), Research in Motion (RIMM), Palm Inc (PALM), iPhone, Technology

While Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) are locked in their battle for smartphone supremacy, a new entry into the market has grabbed headlines.

Palm's (NASDAQ: PALM) brand new touch-screen smartphone -- the Pre -- was the surprise event at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Among other things, the Pre uses the Palm's Web OS, which supposedly can consolidate data from multiple Web sources.

To gauge the potential interest in this new model, ChangeWave recently surveyed 1,200 consumers on how likely they were to buy the Pre when it becomes available.

The results showed that 2% of respondents said they're very likely to buy the Palm Pre, while 6% reported they're somewhat likely.

While this may not seem like much, take a look at how the Pre numbers compare to those of the original iPhone -- taken from a January 2007 survey just after Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone would be built.

In a nutshell, our initial Pre results are almost identical to those of the original iPhone.

And while this doesn't necessarily mean that the Pre will go on to capture a big chunk of the market any time soon. But it does mean that if the Pre lives up to the hype it could wrestle a sizable number of customers away from the competition.

Some analysts noted iPhone-like traits on the Pre when it was unveiled at CES. And when you factor in the survey numbers, it's little wonder that Apple doesn't appear to be taking kindly to the similarities between the iPhone and the Pre.

In a recent earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook said his company wouldn't stand to have its intellectual property ripped off. While he wouldn't talk about any specific company, he did promise to "use whatever weapons we have at our disposal."

Judging by our latest survey results, Apple may decide to use those weapons sooner rather than later.

Paul Carton is the Director of Research for the ChangeWave Alliance Research Network. The Network is a group of 20,000 highly qualified business, technology and medical professionals -- as well as early adopter consumers -- who work in leading companies of select industries.

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