Log in

View Full Version : Palm to Disappear By 2010?



Hands0n
21st April 2009, 07:36 PM
Oooh, this is interesting speculation. The Palm Pre is eagerly awaited by industry watchers and speculation is rife that it going to give the iPhone a jolly good thrashing. But is it? What if this report bears fruit?

I, for one, would not like to see Palm go to that great production line in the sky. They have been around a long time and instrumental in getting us all to where we are today. So even if just a debt to history Palm should survive...


A 24/7 Wall Street report names Palm in a list of the top twelve major brands that will disappear.

Coming in at #10 the report suggests that even with the launch of the new Palm Pre the company will not be able to survive.
-----
Palm (PALM) has been at death’s door for some time. It prospects have improved recently and the company has one last chance to become viable when it launches its new “Pre” product.

Recent research shows that almost no one who owns an Apple (AAPL) iPhone or RIM (RIMM) Blackberry will switch to the new smartphone, so Palm will have to essentially expand the market to get share for its new device during a recession. The “Pre” will also be sold exclusively though Sprint (S), the No.3 cellular carrier in the US which has been losing subscribers consistently for more than two years. The launch of the “Pre” is a disaster in the making. Palm’s results for the quarter that ended on February 27th were awful, failing to meet Wall St’s modest expectations. Palm sold only 482,000 handsets for the period, down 42% from the same quarter the year before. Revenue dropped from $312 million to $91 million, and Palm lost $95 million. Palm brought in just over $100 million with the help of its largest shareholder, Elevation Partners, in a recent financing.

The bottom line is that Palm has no chance of getting an even modest part of the smartphone market in a severe economic downturn since it competes with two of the premier technology companies in the world—Apple and RIM. Palm won’t be in business in a year.

Source: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=3621

gorilla
22nd April 2009, 10:48 PM
Hmm, not sure what to make of this. Certainly Palm have serious issues, but from what I've read and heard, the techie yank journo's are loving the Pre and there does seem to be pent up demand for the device. I suppose the real question is, how successfull can Palm be internationally?

Ben
23rd April 2009, 12:33 AM
I don't want to believe this, but if they don't get that Pre out very soon then it may as well have been vapourware for all the good it'll do.