Verizon says that they will have the Palm Pre available early next year. I guess is fair to assume that means in the first quarter of 2010. Okay, so we’re clear on that, but some people wonder if the Pre will be a success for Verizon Wireless.

There was a post recently at TeleSemana.com, that talks about how the Palm Pre would probably not bring the expected benefits that Verizon Wireless is hoping for. They go on to talk about how the BlackBerry Storm was supposed to be an iPhone killer, or at least the greatest competitor against the Apple device, and fell short to do so.

TeleSemana’s argument is based on results of an online behavioral panel from Compete.com. According to Compete, customers’ Interest in the Palm Pre in other carriers is not as high as within Sprint’s customer’s base.

Compete starts by giving a description of those customers who are thinking about jumping ship. They call them Pre-churners; “a pre-churner is someone who is a current customer of one carrier, but is actively shopping on other carrier websites.”

They say that 14.8% of Verizon Wireless pre-churners are interested in the iPhone 3G S, when only 1.7% of pre-churners show interest in the Palm Pre. This – according to Compete – suggests that bringing the Palm Pre to Verizon won’t actually help the carrier retain some of its riskiest customers.

In my humble opinion, I don’t think Compete is right, but we are so close to find out what fortune brings the Pre to Verizon in 2010. The truth is, the Pre is a wonderful device, and if Verizon doesn’t cut any of its features – like they do with other phones – it will prove a real success, as soon as people start using it, they will realize that they don’t need an iPhone. How do I know you ask, well, I am the proud owner of a Palm Pre.

[Via TeleSemana]