While that means more opportunity for the Pre to succeed, competition is also growing, with more than a dozen new Android-based phones coming later this year and the Nokia N97 going on sale in the U.S. later this month. The stakes are high for both Palm and Sprint.

The third-largest U.S. mobile operator sees the new Palm as a chance to show off its network and an improved customer experience, according to David Owens, director of consumer marketing. Sprint was once plagued by low marks on customer service but has made great strides in the past several quarters, he said.

The Pre is so important to Sprint that the company has added support capabilities just for the new product. Each Sprint store will have a designated Pre expert and a unit for customers to try out. Palm staff will join Sprint teams in the carrier's call centers, and experts from both companies will be able to route and field in-store customers' questions via an instant messaging system, Owens said. Sprint expects shortages of the Pre at first but has set up waiting lists, he said.

But the Pre is far more important to Palm than to Sprint, according to Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney.

"It's a bet-the-company product," Dulaney said.