With all the hype that the Palm Pre has received from the media and from consumers, the device has been warmly welcomed into the smartphone market for its innovative webOS interface. However, if the latest reports are true, all may not be rosy for Palm and Spring. The latest rumors have it that Palm is placing the Eos–the company’s next webOS device also codenamed Pixie–on hold, pending evaluation of the Pre.

Speculations on Palm’s decisions have ranged from the firm trying to iron out and make the manufacturing process more efficient to have more units available to the company canning the Eos due to its less revolutionary design. The Pre has had several problems on launch, with Palm and Sprint saying that the firms may not be able to meet demand in production. Moreover, while the webOS interface has received praise, the hardware has been criticized for “feeling cheap” to being too “plastic” in feeling with reviewers noting that the sliding mechanism isn’t too solid.

While the blogosphere has put the Pre sales from between 50,000 to 100,000 (150,000 with more liberal estimates), the firm hasn’t released official numbers. Sprint has said that the Pre is one of the best launch day and weekend launch phones for the carrier, but the number still pales when compared to the original iPhone, with nearly a million sold.

(via: Fast Company)