HP denies Pre 3 stock to online retailers

ONLINE RETAILERS are struggling to get HP Pre 3 stock and it looks likely that the manufacturer will sell the WebOS handset directly from tomorrow morning.

It comes as many websites are saying the WebOS smartphone is unavailable and are cancelling pre-orders.

Clove.co.uk has announced it will cancel all pre-orders for the Pre 3 and refund its customers. The handset is now 'not for sale' and the firm reckons that it won't sell it at all.

In its blog Clove said, "No decision has come from HP, but we think it is likely that the Pre 3 will NOT be offered to our sales channel and all the stock is likely to be handled by HP direct."

Expansys.com just has a page for the Pre 3 saying, "The HP Pre 3; you want it, and we are doing our best to get as many of them as we can lay our hands on," with a form to register for updates.

The Pre 3 is nowhere to be seen at other web sites such as Play.com, The Carphone Warehouse and Phones4u. Other web sites simply say 'out of stock' and some have messages saying that the handset is 'no longer available to us from the suppler'.

We have found four available handsets on Amazon.co.uk priced at £289 from seller 'AD Sales'.

We've contacted HP and it had no information for us on what is happening with the Pre 3, but it did say it will have a statement today or tomorrow.

Clove's suggestion that HP might be selling the phone directly, possibly for a cut price, could well be the case. The HP shop is currently out of stock but says there will be an update tomorrow at 10am, suggesting that this is when a discounted Pre will go on sale.

The firm's Touchpad tablet recently sold out after prices were dramatically slashed, with HP having to refund retailers the difference. Selling the Pre 3 directly will let HP avoid the hassle of dealing with retailers and give it complete control of supply and sales. It's not like HP will need to worry about shifting stock if the Palm Pre's price is also cut.

It didn't look good for the Pre 3 after we discovered that no UK mobile operators wanted to sell the phone directly. Stock is likely to be limited and if the price is cut to £49 then you'll have to be quick to pick up a bargain. µ