We’ve heard that there are build quality issues with the Palm Pre but we had no idea that they were as bad as Jesup & Lamont analyst Kevin Dede’s is stating when he says that 40%, or, 2 out of 5 Palm Pre devices are being returned largely in part to hardware defects.  This isn’t good news for Palm especially now that brand new shiny BlackBerry Tours may enticing Sprint customers to swap their defective Palm Pres out for the hottest BlackBerry on the market.

Dede warns that his evidence for his 40% returned Palm Pre claim is mostly anecdotal and isn’t enough to publish an official report, however, he did lower his rating on Palm to sell.

[Via IntoMobile]