Palm (NASDAQ: PALM), the troubled smartphone company, is hoping that a new product, sold through Verizon Wireless, will help resurrect its fortunes. Not likely.
The company's Centro smartphone will go for $99. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal with the big carrier "will make the product available starting on Friday to Verizon's 67.2 million subscribers, with a two-year contract."
Good luck. According to research firm Changewave, a survey of IT professionals showed that most plan to buy RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) Blackberries in the next quarter. Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone was second, and that was before the new 3G model was announced. Palm finished in last place.
Because the new iPhone has software which make it more useful to business people, the market for a smartphone from Palm is almost certain to be squeezed further. Palm has been losing money. It revenue last quarter was only $312 million.
Look around you. See all of those Blackberries and iPhones. No one is using a Palm
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-12-2008 @ 11:24AM
Jeff Williams said...
One word: INNOVATION. Something Palm no longer offers.
The Palm Centro isn't new. It's just a repackaged Treo, essentially the same design and OS as was released in 2003.
It was cutting edge then, but more is expected and needed now. If they can't pull off something new and groundbreaking soon, they are doomed to fail. The fact that someone at Palm corporate thinks the Centro is the answer does nothing but reveal the size of the reality-distortion bubble they are currently doing business in.
6-12-2008 @ 1:21PM
Jim Pereira said...
Palm's failure to innovate in addition to its obvious disregard to support current product and failure in terms of customer service is a leading factor in the company's demise and I say, "Good riddance"!