Operation Gadget has been very hesitant to discuss the Treo 610, an unannounced addition to palmOne’s line of smartphones. But, we have looked for verifyable reports that the Treo 610 exists, and we may have found one in a report from Dow Jones Newswires.
In an article called Sierra {Down} On Rumored Loss Of PalmOne Business, a research report published by Detwiler Mitchell & Co. says that Sierra Wireless may lose business from palmOne for a CDMA chipset used in assembling the Treo 600 for use on the Sprint PCS network.
Near the end of the article, an estimate of revenue that Sierra might receive before palmOne changes chipset vendors is given. It is in that estimate where an indication of the probable existence and purpose of the Treo 610 is reveaked:
…Sierra could generate as much as $5-$7 million in revenue from PalmOne in the second and third quarters, as PalmOne is expected to launch the Treo 610 on Verizon Wireless’s… network. Verison is the biggest U.S. wireless carrier. Currently, the {CDMA version of the} Treo 600 runs predominantly on Sprint Corp.’s (PCS) network in the U.S….
The article published by BargainPDA that points to the same Dow Jones report provides the following analysis:
…it appears the 610 is known of by research analysts, but PalmOne is keeping a very, very tight lid on what this device will feature and when it will be released, but as the article states, it appears that a 2nd or 3rd quarter release which would mean anywhere between May and October.
Previously, we reported on the possibility that Verizon Wireless would make the Treo 600 available on its network. We are not ruling out the possibility that this may yet happen.