Palm posts net loss of $95 million for Q3, reaffirms that Pre is on schedule
By Laura June 
posted March 20th 2009 12:44PM
posted March 20th 2009 12:44PM
Palm's third quarter earnings report for 2009 has dropped, and it's looking pretty rough for the old boys. The company posted a net loss of $95 million dollars in the quarter, and sold 482,000 units where it sold 833,000 in the same quarter last year. Palm's total earnings for the quarter fell 71 percent over last year, from $312 million to just $90.6 million. Palm stock fell a net 53 cents quarter over quarter, though it's made some recent significant gains. CEO Ed Colligan was quick to point out, however, that its much-touted and anxiously awaited Pre (with the new webOS) is on target for its release date in the "second quarter." The heat is officially on.
I thought the same thing...
Is it just me or are we really in the 1st quarter of 2009?
Correct me if I'm wrong...This could be for Q3 2008, but taking into consideration that we are almost through with the Q1 of 2009, Palm should be letting out results for Q4 '08 or 2008 results altogether.
Remember that carriers are under pressure by the companies who's phones they sell.
Rogers in Canada had to do a lot of work to be the sole carrier of the iPhone. As such, Rogers cannot carry the Storm or any direct competitor of the iPhone. If they did, Apple would drop the contract and allow other carriers in Canada to use the iPhone.
The same goes for other carriers in the states too.
Heat is on hell. The water is already boiling and their goose is about to be cooked. If the Pre fails at launch (the launch window will be very very important) Palm is gone.
I think the Pre will be very successful. A lot of non iPhone people are heavily anticipating its launch. Unless Palm screws up majorly, the Pre will be a success.
Really? A lot of iPhone users are anticipating the Pre and ready to jump!?
Got a link?...
he said "non iphone users" learn to read. i have many links for that.
hahaha. that was funny ljit
@freakn
1) Read carefully before responding. He said non iPhone users. 2) Actually, I've read a lot of forum responses from individuals claiming to be iPhone users that are aching to get this phone. The numbers will tell if they are lying or not.
Everybody seems hopeless. There is a real big investment and we're talking about a company's future... What do you want to do with iphone 32gb, what is the thing you cannot do with 16gb version?? They played their card and made a successful OS with first iphone, but changing things are not easy, they even couldn't officially announced the copy and paste integration for 2 years. Althought the jailbroken ones were already using this feature and video recording, they decided not to add, in some way... It's not only pre they release, also The new Web OS. And they are going to improve it with the revenue they get from pre. It's not gonna be a single handset like apple does...
come on GSM Pre that works on AT&T's 3G....
now that would be some direct competition to the iphone
when exactly will palm pre be available in the usa?
According to Ed Colligan last night, within 15 weeks.
15 weeks? this Colligan character you speak of... he couldn't have just said 4 months... wow, Devs already have iPhone OS 3.0 SDK.. and the Pre is gonna come after we already got iPhone 3.0. and after the June Apple Keynote.
That's insane.
i really think palm is screwed...they just keep issuing stock to pay other debtors hoping that at some point theyll make a bundle. the pre sounds awesome but there are at least a handful of reasons they COULD be totally f*ck*d
-its coming out on Sprint, have they not realized that's a significant detriment?
-is it just me or does it look uncomfortable to type on...look at how long it is when opened, the ergonomics are nice but may be annoying when holding in hand which defeats the advantage of the physical keyboard
-i know the OS is probably the best out there (or will be, even against iPhone 3.0 and Cupcake) but at the end of the day, you need something that will blow people away to really penetrate a market and again its on Sprint...id rather have a phone that cant multitask than be on that network
-though im looking forward to commercials with santa claus using a new phone, their marketing has sucked in my opinion (i know the centro actually did sort of okay)
does anyone really think this can save Palm?
You're an idiot. :)
Gotta agree with cmil. A LOT of us here in the actual world are Sprint customers and like it. In my area the service is great and Sprint has EVDO while ATT is still on EDGE here. Being an iphone sheep getting assraped monthly by ATT is a detriment, dick.
I see no reason palm cant be saved by the pre and everyother WedOS device that comes out afterward.
For every iphone or At&T lover theres a Sprint and whatever phone they have on sprint lover...I have had Sprint for 8yrs and only had one problem with them. My current plan is HALF and iphone plan and i get unlimited WEB and TEXT. Now even with a higher plan of $70 for the Pre (assumed lowest Pre plan) Ill still be getting more then any other iohone user and have a service thats better and more stable 3G.
And SOME people hate AT&T and their spotty service and dont need a big screen phone or want to be tied into the APPLE ecosystem.. WebOS seems to offer freedom that IPHONE OS doesnt. I have a ton of friends with iphones and hardly any of them use the Apps store to purchase apps, only free stuff..As long as WebOS has no major drawbacks itll be a hit. Every Sprint user will want it.Demand will be large.
Pricing is where Palm and Sprint might lose customers. if they price it right Americans with disposable cash will flock to buy it. if its to expensive people will keep their phones or go to APPLE.
"My current plan is HALF and iphone plan and i get unlimited WEB and TEXT"
Considering that is nowhere near the real cost of a blackberry/smartphone plan on sprint, you obviously have some sort of discounted plan that normal people don't have access to... So lets not go comparing apples and oranges here..
I agree with Neeko about Sprint's plans
I have a 300 minute plan (I'm not a heavy phone user)
Unlimited data (and I tether to my phone for work)
Unlimited Messaging (I had 685 Text messages last month)
My bill $53 a month
@cmil1212 "You're an idiot. :)"
Wow, do you have nothing better to do than troll these boards and talk nonsense? I must say I'm tired of seeing your posts on here, you have absolutely nothing interesting to contribute. Do us all a favor and STFU.
If you don't agree he's an idiot, then you're one as well..lol
my parents will go to NY at the end of may.do you think that it will be available for that time? WIll it be sold free to use in europe?
It won't work in Europe, even if you bring it there, on contract or not. Europe isn't very CDMA/EV-DO friendly. CDMA tech is only found in any abundance in North America, Japan and Korea. I believe it is pretty much phased out of Australia, but I could be wrong there. You will have to wait for a GSM/UMTS/HSPA version.
really sure?
just wondering what palm took long for the release of the pre? hhmmm.. perhaps the palm pre released at CES is just a flash animated demo, not a real one. or perhaps they are still building the OS of the Pre. or perhaps, Palm has no programmers to compile their OS.
Ubuntu wont take several months for the compilation of their OS
what?
you realize there are Pre's floating around right now, right? they don't have flash animated demos.
ubuntu is open source and has thousands of nerds working on it at all times. Palm probably has 100 people working on web-OS. they also want to fix as many bugs and security problems as they can before this gets out the door. Ubuntu has been out the door for years and is being built upon every day by those thousands of people.
What exactly does Ubuntu have to do with WebOS anyways?
I think this big loss is due to the fact that some people are holding off on buying Palm devices until their next generation devices come out.
Does iPhone have anything to do with this???
Here is my question:
Why are you willing to lose millions of dollars and losing market share to stall the release date on this amazing and break-through phone? Clearly it works, you need a better battery. When the iPhone was introduced it took Apple ONE month to release it. WHY!!!! : ( Please give us Sprint and palm fans something brag about AT&T service sucks. And Sprint is way cooler and faster than any service I have ever tried. Plus I would be happy to be tester and blog on the Art Institute of Dallas blog. That’s where I go to school. And what’s better to showoff a phone like that at a world renowned school of design and techno geeks. Forward this email to Palm, your CEO whatever. Sprint does have its challenges technology isn’t one of them. This phone rocks!!!! Release it!!!!
Showgirl643
when the Pre comes out it's really not going to hurt the iPhone. On the contrary, the only one poised to hurt here is WinMo. You see, Apple, Blackberry, Google, Nokia and (hopefully) Palm know how to compete, all bring talent and innovation to the table. On the other hand, the only thing Microsoft knows how to do smear campaigns and oppose competition. They don't know how to compete and that is why they will get torn to shreds.
It’s taking far, far too long to get this thing to market. The buzz after their initial announcement has waned and now we are all excited about iPhone 3.0 and some likely new iphone hardware to boot. My personal zeal for Pre is gone as I now anxiously await the new iphone. Things change too fast anymore. You can’t announce a device like the Pre and expect everyone will wait 6 months because they won’t and because they don’t have to. The playing field changes now every couple of months as different devices are announced with different capabilities. By the time the Pre is delivered, there will be three or four new devices that do pretty much the same thing AND a new iphone which will likely do more - WHICH by the way will instantly be in the hands of some 17 million phones in June. How’s that for a head start?
Sorry Palm - it is officially over!