Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has had a hard knock life recently. The third-largest wireless carrier has seen hundreds of thousands of customers leave it for greener pastures in the last few years. Having the Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone go to another carrier was part of that problem. However, the impending launch of the Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Pre touchscreen smartphone will help reverse that situation a little bit.Investors are betting that the struggling Palm joining the struggling Sprint for this product launch will help both companies recover from their respective slumps. Elevation Partners has dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Palm's lap recently as the "do or die" smartphone maker attempts to resuscitate itself. This is not some flighty money -- this comes with some serious backing by some impressive investors. It was a risky bet launching the arguably most important product in the last five years on Sprint's network with the shape the carrier is in, losing customers and all. Someone out there believes in this partnership. Do you?
Palm has bigger plans, though. Sprint's large 3G high-speed data network will help the Palm Pre shine when it is released soon, and will allow Sprint to finally have a real contender to compete with the iPhone. Sure, the Samsung Instinct touchscreen phone released last year was a decent first stab, but the Palm Pre is cut from a completely differently cloth. If anything can really help reverse Sprint's declining fortunes and help Palm rescue itself from certain death, the Pre will be that product. If you're looking to add to companies to your holdings that have solid products but have had incredibly turbulent times in recent memory, Sprint or Palm may be in your future portfolio picks. The Pre will most likely make both companies shine once again.
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