One of the bright spots to come out of a very lackluster CES 2009 was the Palm Pre smartphone. The Pre marks the first time in many years that the smartphone world has been buzzing about a Palm product. According to WebOSArena a credible source has told it that Best Buy Mobile will be the exclusive retail provider for the Palm Pre release.

That means short of going into a Sprint store and getting your hands on a Pre, Best Buy will be the only other source for the handset. Best Buy is said to have the exclusive locked up for the first 60 days of availability.

Best Buy is no stranger to exclusive smartphone launches; it did the same thing in the summer of 2008 with the Samsung Instinct. I can’t help but wonder if the Pre will be enough to help Sprint actually grow its customer base again or if the device will be nothing more than an also ran next to the iPhone.

Via WebOSArena