Palm's 2Q loss comes in at $9.63 million

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM), the dazed and confused mobile smartphone manufacturer, released Q2 numbers yesterday after the market's close, showing an expected loss for its most recent quarter. The company saw a $9.63 million loss ($0.09 per share) on quarterly revenues of just over $349 million as smartphone competitors, higher than expected warranty costs and shipping delays all influenced the company's performance. In the year-ago quarter, Palm made a net profit of $12.77 million on just over $392 in revenue.

And it gets worse, as Palm gave dismal guidance for the quarter in progress. The once-giant handheld PDA company admitted to seeing losses in the range of $30 million ($0.31 per share) for the current quarter on revenue expectations of $310 million to $320 million. Investors understandably did not like what they heard, driving down Palm's share price from Tuesday's close of $5.93 to $5.35 in after-hours trading.

What's next for Palm? After starting to sell the lower-price Palm Centro (a $99 smartphone) in its Q2 period and canceling the Foleo miniature notebook portable computer (if that's what it was), the company's CEO, Ed Colligan, has some shoring up to do or he'll be skating on thin ice in 2008. Wait, he already is. Stating that "It's a transformational time so things could be a bit lumpy, but we'll do our best to manage through that," Colligan must make some radical moves in 2008 or be shown the door. Investors aren't patient when it comes to one disappointing quarter after another in an industry expected to continue growth for the next several years.