Palm has started selling Treo 650’s, to China through CEC Telecom. The motivation is clearly to tap into the growing Chinese market, which is expected to be close to 7 million converged devices shipped by 2009, according to IDC. That is a compounded annual growth rate of 28 percent.

“Palm is thrilled to collaborate with CECT to help reach the huge market potential in China and redefine the smartphone experience there,” said John Hartnett, Palm senior vice president for worldwide sales. “We look forward to serving Chinese mobile professionals and businesses with a tool that helps them stay connected to important information, whether it’s in the corporate data center, on the web or on the smartphone itself.”

“The increasingly mobile work force in China is looking for mobile devices that feature superior ease of use and excellent hardware and software integration — all to manage their busy lives,” said Gu Lei, chief operating officer, CECT. “Palm’s innovative and easy-to-use smartphone, together with CECT’s well-established status in the local mobile-phone market, will provide a competitive edge for Palm and help it lead the development of smartphone trends in China.”

A large advertising campaign will be launched in China to support the Treo.