The Palm Pre may be attracting customer interest, but it’s also getting the attention of the industry.  Paul Ghent has left his management position at HTC to join Palm as sales vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and will likely be instrumental in launching the Pre into the competitive European and Asian markets. Ghent, who was HTCs executive director for Europe, has been credited with carving HTC a niche in the consumer market, with devices such as the Touch Diamond.

The consumer market has been of increasing interest to Palm over the past twelve months, with entry-level devices such as the Centro seeing surprisingly high sales among first-time smartphone owners.  Palm are hoping to continue that momentum with the Pre, which they’ve already suggested is targeted at both enterprise and consumer customers.

As for HTC, Ghent’s permanent replacement has not been announced, but existing exec Dave Catt will take on his responsibilities for the moment.  Neither Palm or HTC have officially commented on Ghent’s defection.