Peek sent out an email today announcing that a new Peek will be announced tomorrow. A bit needy, sure, but I’ll bite because they got my attention with this line, “It’s called Peek 9 and it is a major step forward — cheaper, simpler, and faster than ever.” Cheaper, simpler, and faster than the current Peeks? Nice. If that statement isn’t marketing bull, the Peek 9 might have a chance.
Peek has always been about low-cost. That’s the staple of their message, but over the years, even their line got more expensive as more features we added. The Peek Pronto launched in 2009 with a $79.99 MSRP with a $20 monthly fee. That’s not exactly cheap in my book seeing how it’s nearly the cost of a smartphone plan.
A retailer prematurity announced the Peek 9 a few days ago and listed the price at $69.99. That’s not exactly an official announcement, but it’s the cost of the service plan that I would like to see dropped. Right now it’s $14.99 and even that’s on par with some on-contract plans. Hopefully the big news tomorrow is the service plan is cheaper.
The email is clearly carefully worded to no doubt generate buzz. There’s a bunch of key words here: focused, cost-efficient, real-time apps and cheaper. That’s fine. I want the Peek 9 to deliver. But can even a cheaper, app-filled Peek stand out in a world full of iPhones, BlackBerrys, and Android devices? That’s a question only the retail market can answer.
