Palm to Miss Q1 Revenue Targets

Jazzi · 09/07/2006, 02:26 AM

Palm expects to report fiscal Q1 2007 revenues to be in the range between $354 and $356 million, down about 7% from the earlier guidance of $380 million to $385 million. Palm said that lower than expected carrier retail sales of its Treo smartphone were responsible for the revenue shortfall.

Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer, mentioned that the company will "soon address the market dynamics responsible for our first quarter revenue shortfall with two major product launches." One model aims to "improve" Palm's pricing position, the other will enhance "carrier relationships to global markets," the firm hopes.

surur · 09/07/2006, 04:39 AM

I will say it again - they thought they could Palm businesses of with a 32 MB Windows Mobile device, but clearly did not succeed. One would have hoped they have learnt from this, but the wifi-less Treo 750v (on a network with no flatrate internet and extremely expensive $5/MB data) means they will continue to suffer.

Surur

skfny · 09/07/2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surur

I will say it again - they thought they could Palm businesses of with a 32 MB Windows Mobile device, but clearly did not succeed. One would have hoped they have learnt from this, but the wifi-less Treo 750v (on a network with no flatrate internet and extremely expensive $5/MB data) means they will continue to suffer.

Surur

I have to agree. I see Palm at the same point Handspring was in its heyday. Everywhere you looked (at least in NYC subways) you saw Treos (Visors back then). Then the innovation stopped and so did the Visors. As much as I love the Treo, I hope Moto/Nokia/SE/HTC/Samsung et al can come up with ONE competitive device running either POS or the full WM OS-not Dumbphone. (And from my experience with the 6700, the slide-out keyboard devices are NOT competitive IMO).

driven01 · 09/07/2006, 10:31 AM

I wonder how the moto Q is selling. I wonder if they are meeting sales targets with tht device?

samboy · 09/07/2006, 10:36 AM

Does anyone know how sprint's retention department affects palm's bottom line? For instance, all else being the same, is palm indifferent to selling a Treo off of palm.com versus a discounted Treo handed out by the retention department?

esatyawan · 09/07/2006, 11:22 AM

People in US with CDMA carrier has no difficulties to change to GSM handset (with cingular).

HOWEVER, people in the rest of the world is IMPOSSIBLE to change from GSM to CDMA

Advantage GSM to CDMA:
-Easier to carry around the world, just buy another simcard, insert it into 650 , it works like a charm

- GPRS , works like full time internet while allowing you to receive any incoming call. Works best with push email. And batteray standby longer in GPRS than CDMA data network

scottymomo · 09/07/2006, 03:56 PM

I think with the release of the 700wx this month (and the general positive reception of folks on this board) and the 750v to come and possibly the Cingular version, the next quarter or 2 will probably be better for them.

Tastypeppers · 09/07/2006, 04:21 PM

While in the short run the 700wx and the 750 will help, over the long haul Palm is in Trouble with a capital T.

So many handset manufacturers are coming into the market. Even a crappy handset will siphon off some sales.

And the fact is that most of the handsets aren't crappy. Plus the competitors are smart and will do better next time.

The smartphone market is now a commodity market. Do Palm managers know this? Do they know how to thrive in a commodity market? That is not clear to me.

What is clear to me is that customer loyalty (compare Mac, Harley Davidson) to the Treo continues to erode. Take a look around this board or inside your own brain--look at the interest in other handhelds.

Me personally, I can wait until Monday's Vodafone announcement to see how long I have to wait for an unlocked GSM model to use on T-Mobile USA. Otherwise I'm probably going to start picking up stuff from Craigslist to try out. And I really like my 650. And my wife will give me grief about this. Even so, I will be trying out other stuff.

skfny · 09/07/2006, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottymomo

I think with the release of the 700wx this month (and the general positive reception of folks on this board) and the 750v to come and possibly the Cingular version, the next quarter or 2 will probably be better for them.

I would agree, and I have to believe they will give POed Verizon customers a slim 750vzw early next year. My previous doom and gloom post was based on a longer-term view.

The Phone Diva · 09/07/2006, 05:00 PM

I think this is because they really aren't bringing much new to the table(design-wise and feature-wise), while other makers have snappier phones coming out all over the place! The 700wx could save them, however. Finally, a Treo with enough memory!

alex_mathews · 09/07/2006, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samboy

Does anyone know how sprint's retention department affects palm's bottom line? For instance, all else being the same, is palm indifferent to selling a Treo off of palm.com versus a discounted Treo handed out by the retention department?

I don't think the discounted sale hurts Palm, since I would assume the money for the discount is coming out of Sprint's pocket.

alex_mathews · 09/07/2006, 05:07 PM

I'm very disappointed. I agree with many that they need a bit more innovation, otherwise they won't survive against the likes of RIM, HTC, Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung.

The Treo 750v is certainly a step in the right direction, but they need to address all the regional markets.

BoxWave · 09/10/2006, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzi

Palm expects to report fiscal Q1 2007 revenues to be in the range between $354 and $356 million, down about 7% from the earlier guidance of $380 million to $385 million. Palm said that lower than expected carrier retail sales of its Treo smartphone were responsible for the revenue shortfall.

Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer, mentioned that the company will "soon address the market dynamics responsible for our first quarter revenue shortfall with two major product launches." One model aims to "improve" Palm's pricing position, the other will enhance "carrier relationships to global markets," the firm hopes.

Sigh. The two model configuration. We shall see.

Wing
BoxWave Treo Accessories

macsteroni · 09/10/2006, 06:09 PM

too bad the RIM pearl is only for GSM carriers.. i would like to get that phone but I am with verizon until my contract runs out in mid 07

treo...not! · 09/12/2006, 02:39 AM

One day coming soon the people will wake up. Sell cr@p; they will not buy. It's really that simple.

The Phone Diva · 09/12/2006, 02:58 AM

The Treo isn't crap, but at $400 - $650, Palm needs to have updated hardware. And software too, for that matter. They finally got it almost right with the 700wx, BUT even some hardware features are lacking at that price. What this and that other thread with a similar article are saying is: the Treo is basically overpriced for what it's offering against other phones at the same or lower price.

oalvarez · 09/12/2006, 08:53 AM

keep the functionality the same (for the most part), make it a touch less thick with the weight of a pearl/moto, and lose the antenna, AND THEY WILL COME. i have said it in multiple threads: fat/bulky/weighty is a thing of the past. the thing is, all of the smaller units do not successfully run the more popular op systems that those so called "power users" require. but if the competition can offer similar feature/benefits with a much smaller footprint they will easily take sales away from Palm like they're doing today.

the treo offers one of the great form factors but it needs to change or at least come in some other size offering to appease the smaller mobile device market segment.

The Phone Diva · 09/12/2006, 02:56 PM

You can make something appear sleeker, even though it has a full OS. HTC does it all the time. Many of it's phones are close to Treo size, but they manage to design them not so bulky looking.

I also remember Samsung used to make Palm OS flip phones, and I think WM flips too. Those should be brought back IMO.