Palm Reports Q3 FY08 Results

Palm Inc. today reported that total revenue in the third quarter of fiscal year 2008, ended Feb. 29, was $312.1 million. Driven by strong demand for the Palm Centro, smartphone sell-through for the quarter reached a company record high, totaling 833,000 units, up 13 percent year over year. Smartphone revenue was $275.4 million.

"Centro is off to the strongest start of any smartphone in Palm's history," said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. "Centro's fun design, great price point and amazing array of easy-to-use features is expanding Palm's customer base with more than 70 percent of Centro buyers trading up from traditional cell phones."

Net loss applicable to common shareholders for the quarter was $31.5 million, or $(0.30) per diluted share. Net loss included stock-based compensation expense of $6.2 million, amortization of intangible assets of $1.0 million, restructuring charges of $12.3 million and accretion of series B convertible preferred stock of $2.4 million. This compares to net income for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 of $11.8 million, or $0.11 per diluted share.

Net loss applicable to common shareholders in the third fiscal quarter, measured on a non-GAAP basis, totaled $17.0 million, or $(0.16) per diluted share, excluding stock-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges and accretion of series B convertible preferred stock and adjusting the related income tax provision to 26 percent. This compares to non-GAAP net income in the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 of $16.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, which excluded the effects of stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, an in-process research and development charge and adjusting the income tax provision to 40 percent.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, totaled negative $28.4 million. EBITDA, adjusted to add back stock-based compensation, other non-operating expense and restructuring charges, or Adjusted EBITDA, totaled negative $9.5 million.

During the second quarter of fiscal year 2008, Palm reclassified its auction rate securities, which are currently illiquid to non-current assets that are shown on its condensed consolidated balance sheet below as $74.7 million at the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. Palm is in the process of completing an impairment analysis and expects to record an impairment charge that will be made available in Palm's quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

Source: Palm Inc. press release

Related: Palm Q3FY08 Conference Call Highlights

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Palm is a different company

adamsmark @ 3/20/2008 5:19:14 PM # Q
Those of us who lament over the demise of the Palm PDA must admit, Palm is succeeding in the smartphone market, at least to an extent. Wish them well, but not interested in the Centro.

"I believe in the atomic bomb."

Blogging at http://agabus.com">Agabus.com.

Palm V > Vx > Clie Peg T615C > T3 > Clie TH55 > T3 > Treo 650 > Treo 700p & T3 > Treo 700p & iPaq 210 (Windows-based PDAs are allowed at PalmInfocenter, right?)

RE: Palm is a different company
PacManFoo @ 3/20/2008 5:39:30 PM # Q
No interest here either but good luck to Palm on becoming king of the cheap phone segment.

PDA's Past and Present:
Palm TX (Number 2)
Palm - IIIxe, Vx, M500, M505, Tungsten T, TX
Handspring - Edge, Platinum, Deluxe
Sony - SJ22, UX50
Casio-EM500
Apple - MP110, MP2000, MP2100
RE: Palm is a different company
palmit @ 3/20/2008 6:01:52 PM # Q
If it wasn't for that "cheap phone" they would be worst off. It buys them time to get new stuff in order. I would be interested in pairing Centro like device with a possible new Foleo. I dont want super expensive smartphone, just some basic features in small form factor.

RE: Palm is a different company
PacManFoo @ 3/20/2008 10:50:34 PM # Q
Yes by 2010-2011 they will maybe, possibly, be better off then they are today. Of course they may not make it that long. Enjoy the kool-aid, I got tired of it long ago.

PDA's Past and Present:
Palm TX (Number 2)
Palm - IIIxe, Vx, M500, M505, Tungsten T, TX
Handspring - Edge, Platinum, Deluxe
Sony - SJ22, UX50
Casio-EM500
Apple - MP110, MP2000, MP2100
RE: Palm is a different company
roadwarrior2008 @ 3/24/2008 10:48:26 PM # Q
Palm sure is a different company...one which realized a long time ago that PDAs are dead. Unfortunately everyone else has caught up and some have even surpassed Palm in the Smartphone category. I finally made the switch from Palm OS to Windows Mobile this year because of Palm's inability to provide a high speed (HSDPA) GSM Palm smartphone.
RE: Palm is a different company
hkklife @ 3/24/2008 11:02:59 PM # Q
It's not Palm's inability, it's Access/PalmSource's inability. The inherent limitations of the Garnet OS prevent it from handling the multitasking required for UMTS/HSDPA or even EVDO Rev.1 functionality.

Are you still using a Windows Mobile-based Palm Treo or have you moved to another manufacturer entirely?



Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

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Link to full Q3 report

Poopie @ 3/20/2008 5:29:30 PM # Q
Reply to this comment

Commodity Hell

Gekko @ 3/20/2008 6:13:09 PM # Q

"You are headed for commodity hell if you don't have services." - Lou Gerstner

"Chasing revenue in a commodity business is really dumb." - Lou Gerstner

Reply to this comment

PDA Revenue (?!?)

buckeyetex315 @ 3/20/2008 7:06:54 PM # Q
Total Revenue = $312.1 million
Smartphone Revenue = $275.4 million
therefore:
PDA Revenue = $36.7 million Correct, or am I missing something?

Conservatively, that's $120 million per year in PDA revenue assuming unequal quarters. It's nearly $150 million assuming equal quarters.

Even taking the very conservative comparison of $120 million PDA revenue versus total yearly revenue of $1.2 billion, I don't understand how Palm can ignore 10% of their revenue stream.

I think it would be really interesting to see the net profit contributions of each segment - PDA vs. smartphone. I'm willing to bet that the PDA segment is a LOT more profitable.

Brent


Palm Vx -> Long wait -> Palm T|X

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
hkklife @ 3/20/2008 7:13:33 PM # Q
I don't understand it either but they CAN and they WILL.

Well, between you and me, I figured out how Palm's going to make this nasty little issue go away. They arejust going to EOL the remaining PDAs sometime within the next 3-4 months and they we won't have that matter to trouble us any longer. Take the PDA revenue right off the books and make everyone's life easier!



Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
BaalthazaaR @ 3/20/2008 7:17:26 PM # Q
I'm willing to bet that the PDA segment is a LOT more profitable.

With $0.00 in development & quality assurance costs and nominal support costs given the age of the "current" PDAs out there, the profit would be skewed to showing greater profitablity than it would if they actually attempted to do something in the PDA segment.

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
Ryan @ 3/20/2008 7:23:09 PM # Q
You are correct, I just posted the breakdown here:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9627/palm-q3-fy08-conference-call-highlights/

Handheld revenue for the quarter was $36.7 million. 198,000 units were shipped for a 38% year over year decline. Handheld sell-through was 282k units down from 323k the previous quarter.

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
buckeyetex315 @ 3/20/2008 7:35:41 PM # Q
Thanks, at least I know I can still add and subtract! :-D

BaalthazaaR, I agree that the margins would be less if they actually DID something with their product lineup. But I still agree with many of the posters here that Ed Colligan is making the decline of PDA revenue a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can only sell an aging tech product for so long before it dies. I think there is a lot of pent-up demand not only for existing Palm PDA users but also for those who have abandoned PalmOS PDAs for other platforms.

It takes a LOT of Centro units to make up for $36 million in revenue...

I can't remember who posted and don't have time to really look it up, but I support the idea that Palm should come out with a PDA first instead of a phone on their "new" PalmOS to let everyone see how the new OS really works.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, here. I'll get me coat....

Brent


Palm Vx -> Long wait -> Palm T|X

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
hkklife @ 3/20/2008 7:45:09 PM # Q
Well, Palm kinda/sorta did that with OS5. The T|T launched in Oct '02 as the one and only Palm device to run OS 5.0. It still clung to some of the pre-OS5 tech (Graffiti 1, 16mb RAM limit) that was quickly eliminated. Palm worked all of the major bugs out, EOL'd the T|T after a pretty short shelf life, and quickly followed up with the Zire 71 & T|C in spring '03. Those models both shipped with OS 5.2 and made a number of improvements over the T|T's 5.0.


Palm's best strategy would be to consolidate the current 3 PDAs into 2 new models later this summer or early this fall. Have one run OS5.x for legacy apps/users and have the other debut Nova. Target it as a PMP/PDA/VOIP solution and let us poor sods be the paying beta testers. Then within a month after its arrival on store shelves, Palm'll have all of the bug reports and support feedback they need to ensure a painless, smooth Nova rollout on smartphones (or at least for a majorly comprehensive ROM fix for the first Nova smartphone).

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

RE: PDA Revenue (?!?)
BaalthazaaR @ 3/20/2008 7:58:56 PM # Q
@Brent
My point was that you can't just look at the profitability of the PDA segment as an argument that they need to put out a new device. Don't mistake that to say that there is no demand either. I'd love a new PDA, but the longer that Palm goes without releasing a new PDA, they're fulfilling their prophecy that the market is dead. There is just so long that people will go without giving up and finding something else. It is more likely that some of the people have given up and are buying smartphones since that is all you can get that is newer and in most cases more stable.

I venture to say that they are more afraid that their releasing a new PDA would bring down their non-windos smartphone sales.

Reply to this comment

My Post Was Removed

mopcodes @ 3/21/2008 7:35:45 PM # Q
Wow! My post got removed and I've seen worse in these threads.
I guess the site does not want to hear some of us are no longer spending $$$ in the Palm Depression.
RE: My Post Was Removed
mopcodes @ 3/21/2008 7:38:13 PM # Q
whoa! So much for the beta version of Firefox. I just found the post and a browser bug. weird.
is the moon full? :-( Sigh.

D. Martin
Former Amiga/Commodore Author/Writer/Reviewer
RE: My Post Was Removed
Ryan @ 3/21/2008 8:29:30 PM # Q
For the record, I didn't remove anything.

Are you testing out the new Firefox 3 beta?

Reply to this comment

PDAs are DEAD

roadwarrior2008 @ 3/24/2008 10:45:54 PM # Q
Come on, all you PDA guys ever do is whine and complain. Give up already. We are not going back to 2001 with basic PDAs. That market is dead, asides from a small handful of fanboys. Smartphones are today. All the major manufacturers make smartphones. Who makes PDAs today? I say Palm should cancel the few remaining PDAs now and quit wasting time and resources. I can't even tell you the last time I saw a PDA in a store. LOL I used PDAs from 2001 through 2003 and switched to smartphones and have never looked back.
RE: PDAs are DEAD
hkklife @ 3/24/2008 11:09:34 PM # Q
You appear to be an astroturfing member of Palm's R&D dept, trying to convince us that less is indeed more.

You also must be oblivious to the stunning success of the iPod Touch.

How can Palm be wasting time & resources when they haven't even LOOKED at a PDA-related update in nearly three years?

Go into any Best Buy, Office Max, or Staples and you'll still see plenty of PDAs in stock and ready to be sold. Best Buy was just touting the Tungsten E2 (itself a 3-year old model) in last week's printed ad.

And Treos (especially POS ones) make such p!ss poor phones that anyone who is a serious, ahem, "road warrior" will carry a dedicated cell phone anyway for mission-critical voice purposes.

So if Palm were to abandon TX production tomorrow, in what Treo/Centro would "resources" such as 320x480 LCDs, 128mb RAM modules, 802.11b radios and 3.5mm stereo headphone jacks go?

Also, we just established (thanks, Ryan!) here last week that those antiquated still contributed $36.7millioin USD to Palm's earnings last quarter. Wouldn't YOU like to have $36.7 by essentially shipping a product requiring zero support, development, or marketing $? I thought so!

So, yes, I KNOW Palm's not going to produce another PDA. But that doesn't mean that I and many others wouldn't purchase one if they DID.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

RE: PDAs are DEAD
abosco @ 3/24/2008 11:38:17 PM # Q
The PDA is dead because Palm decided it was dead. If the iPod Touch is any indication, there is still a screaming fanbase of buyers. It doesn't matter what Gekko or Palm say - the PDA still has a large market. The numbers don't lie.

This is coming from a smartphone user.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + S710a

RE: PDAs are DEAD
adamsmark @ 3/25/2008 1:24:05 AM # Q
Considering the amount of use I'm getting from my HP iPaq 210, I'd have to object. PDAs aren't dead. Turn my iPaq into a cell phone (four-inch screen and everything) and you'd have a heck of a smartphone. For me, it really all comes down to the screen. I can't bear a small screen, no matter how smart the phone is. Consider that the "smartphone" with the biggest screen (the iPhone) is one of the most popular. Says a lot for PDAs.

"I believe in the atomic bomb."

Blogging at http://agabus.com">Agabus.com.

Palm V > Vx > Clie Peg T615C > T3 > Clie TH55 > T3 > Treo 650 > Treo 700p & T3 > Treo 700p & iPaq 210 (Windows-based PDAs are allowed at PalmInfocenter, right?)

RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 9:52:09 AM # Q
Go into any Best Buy, Office Max, or Staples and you'll still see plenty of PDAs in stock and ready to be sold. Best Buy was just touting the Tungsten E2 (itself a 3-year old model) in last week's printed ad.

I think you just stumbled inadvertently on to the reason Palm isn't trying to sell PDAs: They're not selling. Why do you think there are still "plenty of PDAs in stock and ready to be sold"? They're not selling anymore, that's why.

As for the iPod Touch: That's marketed as a music/movie player, not a PDA. Take a look at how the Touch is being marketed:

http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/

With the exception of Internet access, there's nothing that makes the Touch a good PDA. And the way Apple is locking down some of the core functions, I don't see any sign that the SDK will change that. You can't even sync memos with the iPhone/Touch. And will there be access to the filesystem so that a decent file manager can be developed?

I think the way most people want to access their information has changed. Convergence seems to be winning out over optimized standalone functionality. To put it simply, is the TX a better PDA than the Centro? Probably. But most people would rather carry one thing in their pocket, rather than two, if the sacrifices aren't that severe in either function.



RE: PDAs are DEAD
BaalthazaaR @ 3/25/2008 10:13:39 AM # Q
Why do you think there are still "plenty of PDAs in stock and ready to be sold"? They're not selling anymore, that's why.

How about them not selling because everyone who would want a TX has already bought one in the last 3+ years? They'd buy one if it was an improvement over what they have. Or they would buy one as a replacement or even as a backup if the other one is starting to show it's age. I'm in no hurry to buy another one that is identical to what I have. But I may take the plunge if Palm announces that they're halting production. There are enough people in that scenario that bumped Palm's bottom line up by $36.7 million in one quarter as evident from their recent financials.

But most people would rather carry one thing in their pocket, rather than two, if the sacrifices aren't that severe in either function.

I used to think that, but the first time that one device fails leaving you with nothing makes you change your mind. I'd rather carry a PDA in addition to my cell phone than carry around a paper book as a backup for my contacts.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
hkklife @ 3/25/2008 11:11:38 AM # Q
I carry a Treo and a small dumbphone on a daily basis instead of my TX + dumbphone for three main reasons:

1. E-mail connectivity anywhere/everywhere. There's a huge dearth of wi-fi hotspots around where I live & where I work, so a smarthone is the only practical choice since I don't have GSM cell service. And my job pretty much necessitates having e-mail acess at any given time during the day. If my employer didn't pay the Treo's hefty service fee on Verizon I'd merrily go back to carrying my trusty TX.

2. The Treo, with an appropriate high-capacity battery installed, can lost longer during the day than a TX or T5 can.

3. There's more Treo-related "stuff" going on than Palm OS PDA "stuff", like it or not. So carrying the Treo gives me valuable insight/usage that I can turn into PIC reviews etc.

Honestly, #1 definitely the main reason. But I'd rather carry a Zire + a good dumbphone instead of having to rely on the lagging, resetting, signal dropping, flaky Bluetooth, non-voice dialing Treo as my primary means of communication. It astounds me how many people somehow manage to make do by using a clunky smartphone (especially a Palm OS one!) as their one and only telephone.



Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 11:18:06 AM # Q
How about them not selling because everyone who would want a TX has already bought one in the last 3+ years? They'd buy one if it was an improvement over what they have. Or they would buy one as a replacement or even as a backup if the other one is starting to show it's age.


You've sidestepped the point of the original post. The point being argued was that somehow the fact that there are lots of PDAs in stock means that there's demand. Actually, the opposite is true. There's very little demand for those PDAs. You could argue that there would be demand for some as-of-yet unannounced improved PDA, but that's pretty heavy speculation. And just what would they add to it, if they did release a new one? They could support larger cards, of course (which is a complaint you could also have about the current crop of Palm smartphones) but I don't think there's a lot of other places to go with the PDA that haven't been traveled by either Palm or Windows (which is also concentrating on phones rather than PDAs at this point).

I used to think that, but the first time that one device fails leaving you with nothing makes you change your mind. I'd rather carry a PDA in addition to my cell phone than carry around a paper book as a backup for my contacts.

I understand that sentiment. It's why I still have my TX. The thing is, most people don't have the luxury of having both. If you didn't have a PDA already, which would you rather do, buy one device or two (remembering that it does you no good to buy it and keep it in your desk drawer - you have to carry both)?

The seeds of the plain vanilla PDA's destruction were planted many years ago. (Handspring, anyone?) Convergence does have its negative side (e.g., the possibility of the converged device flat-lining, as you noted), but there are also a lot of benefits (e.g., integrated Web lookup with contacts, integrated dialing, etc.). Phones aren't serious replacements for dedicated cameras (and probably never will be, because of the design limitations a phone puts on you), but as PDAs, I think they do reasonably well.

And I think that moving exclusively to smartphones is more in line with Palm's vision at this point. The Foleo really shows where Palm wants to take things: You carry the phone with your data, and use an add-on device for the screen, keyboard, and possibly storage of larger files. While I don't think the MacBook Air is much of a notebook, something of that type and form factor would be perfect as the next Foleo - especially with a solid state drive and access to the Internet through either a cell network or wifi.

There are some areas (screen size, entering in Graffiti) where the PDA is better than a phone. But I think that traveling light is winning out over those kinds of concerns. I think the iPhone is a demonstration of that. (Incidentally, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple discontinued the iPod entirely at some point, to focus on the iPhone exclusively).

RE: PDAs are DEAD
BaalthazaaR @ 3/25/2008 12:06:13 PM # Q
You've sidestepped the point of the original post. The point being argued was that somehow the fact that there are lots of PDAs in stock means that there's demand. Actually, the opposite is true. There's very little demand for those PDAs.

Actually I think that the stock of PDAs makes more of a statemnet on supply than on demand. The sales of the same stock would be more of an indication of demand. Even diminishing sales would be more indicative of market saturation of existing designs. However the stock of PDAs and the fact that Palm seems to be still manufacturing them (since they haven't announced the cessation of production) seems to indicate that Palm doesn't completely believe in its position that the PDA market is dead.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
hkklife @ 3/25/2008 12:36:22 PM # Q
I must respectively disagree with you. Think of the, oh, zillions of happy iPod customers who would not want to sign their lives away to a 2yr AT&T contract to get an iPhone. On top of that, there are the habitual iPod upgrade addicts, who buy a new device each year and/or carry around multiple iPods containing a different music library. And let's not forget the folks who have purchased oodles of iPods for their kids. Heck, I know one family that won't let their kids use their CC so the kiddies run to the store each week with their pocket money, buy a iTunes gift card, and run home and go hog wild downloading. Those same kids have absolutely no need for a cell phone at the moment-and certainly not one like the iphone.

Now, I can very easily see Apple dumping the iPod Classic (HD-based) in favor of and all flash-based iPod Touch/iPhone lineup. But dumping the regular iPod? Hell no! It makes for a tidy little side business just in case things ever go sour with the carriers. Kind of like, you know, *GIGGLE*, what Palm SHOULD have done (and wanted to do with the Fooleo)!

P.S. Speaking of giggles, where's Seldom Visitor these days? He's been awfully quiet the past few weeks!

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

WAY-OT:RE: PDAs are DEAD
SeldomVisitor @ 3/25/2008 12:45:21 PM # Q
> ...P.S. Speaking of giggles, where's Seldom Visitor these days? He's
> been awfully quiet the past few weeks!

Nothing much to say - been on vacation/Spring Break (*) the last week+, still recovering, haven't read the earnings call transcript yet, have read posts here (I think I caught them all) but don't really see anything much to comment on with PALM - we know what they're not doing and won't do for another 3/4s year at least so it's kinda boring right now.

Only comment I've made here recently is "TVoR worked for BEOS!?"...

========

(*) Went to Disney World for the first time - had promised daughter we'd go there before her 10th birthday and, for no particularly good reason, decided to use the Spring Break time to do so. When I was her age (and younger) I wanted to go to Disneyland (no Disney World at the time!) but my family was much less than rich so I never made it there. Now about half a century later I have.

I am a Happy Camper.

[and I was totally surprised at the HUGE size of Disney World and its parks - haven't walked that much EVER in a day - over a week+ of days. Lost a pound of weight, too, over that time period so it was a win-win!

RE: PDAs are DEAD
mikecane @ 3/25/2008 2:28:31 PM # Q
>>>But most people would rather carry one thing in their pocket, rather than two, if the sacrifices aren't that severe in either function.

Yeah. Like the woman I saw a few days ago with a shiny new Centro. Which she put away to listen to music from her *iPod Shuffle*.

Reality uncooperates again!

RE: PDAs are DEAD
BaalthazaaR @ 3/25/2008 2:32:29 PM # Q
I agree with you completely... However reality is in the eye of the observer. Even a nut job has a reality albeit a completely different reality than others in society.
RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 2:34:23 PM # Q
I must respectively disagree with you. Think of the, oh, zillions of happy iPod customers who would not want to sign their lives away to a 2yr AT&T contract to get an iPhone. On top of that, there are the habitual iPod upgrade addicts, who buy a new device each year and/or carry around multiple iPods containing a different music library. And let's not forget the folks who have purchased oodles of iPods for their kids. Heck, I know one family that won't let their kids use their CC so the kiddies run to the store each week with their pocket money, buy a iTunes gift card, and run home and go hog wild downloading. Those same kids have absolutely no need for a cell phone at the moment-and certainly not one like the iphone.

I heartily agree with you that kids have no need for cell phones. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the trend these days. The same parents who let their kids carry around $300 iPods apparently have no problem with the idea of their kids using cell phones, either. It's a sign of the times in which we live. Look at the aesthetic of the Centro itself. The color scheme of the AT&T model seems tailor-made for people not old enough for a learner's permit.

I'd also point you to the legions of people who did purchase the iPhone specifically because it is such a convergence device. Right now it's premature to talk about the death of the standalone iPod, because of the expense of the iPhone. But prices will come down. They always do. And you're only talking about $100 difference in the 16GB iPod vs. the Touch, anyway. That's not a lot of ground to cover.

And two-year contracts actually work in the iPhone's favor, in a sense: If the end of your contract is nigh, and you have the choice between carrying two items and carrying one, which are you going to choose? If you could get the same performance out of both functions that you'd get out of either separately, wouldn't you choose convergence? In the case of the iPhone, I don't think you really lose anything by choosing iPhone over iPod - with the exception, of course, of being tied to a contract, which you'd deal with with any cell phone contract. I would be fascinated to know how many people upgrade their iPods yearly, though. I can't imagine that number is that large. Why would it be?

Those people carrying around multiple iPods could keep their multiple iPods. There's no reason that would change. (It seems a little psychotic to me to have multiple iPods just to have multiple sets of songs, but that's neither here nor there.)

Finally, almost none of the arguments that apply to the iPod apply at all to PDAs. You don't pay a significant premium to go from a PDA and a dumbphone to a smartphone, people don't upgrade PDAs on a compulsive basis, and there's not the overwhelming demand for PDAs that there is for iPods.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
mikecane @ 3/25/2008 2:43:47 PM # Q
>>>However reality is in the eye of the observer. Even a nut job has a reality albeit a completely different reality than others in society.

Nutjob? Where the hell do you live? What desolate plain with tumbling tumbleweeds do you park your ass and call home?

Come out to the frikkin CITY, kid, where you can observe LOTS of people going about their USUAL REAL-LIFE NON-GEEK BEHAVIOR. What I've just described with that Centro & iPod scenario is the NORM. I've seen it with Treos, I've seen it with Blackberries, I've seen it with Razrs, I've seen it with anything that's NOT an iPhone.

I've got a frikkin LIFEDRIVE with 4GBs available to me. I use a crappy $40 SD-based MP3 player to listen to music! And I use a **128MB** SD in it!

RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 2:43:56 PM # Q
Yeah. Like the woman I saw a few days ago with a shiny new Centro. Which she put away to listen to music from her *iPod Shuffle*.

Reality uncooperates again!

You do realize that that situation is entirely different from the PDA/phone convergence scenario, don't you?

If she took out her TX while holding a shiny new Centro, then you'd have a point. But the comparison between a Centro and an iPod Shuffle is absurd. My statement was based on the concept that people will go for convergence devices if they don't sacrifice one function too much. On what possible planet are you not sacrificing anything if you're trying to use your Centro as an iPod (Shuffle, Touch, or otherwise)?

And it's quite possible that, but for the decision not to include a standard-sized headphone jack on the Centro, that she would have used it to play music. You can get a 4GB micro-SD card for less than you'd pay for an iPod Shuffle.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
BaalthazaaR @ 3/25/2008 2:45:39 PM # Q
people don't upgrade PDAs on a compulsive basis, and there's not the overwhelming demand for PDAs that there is for iPods.

Yeah exactly.... people who buy iPods are impulsive fadists, while people who buy PDAs are a more stable lot who buy out of necessity rather than a fashion statement. They will upgrade when there is a new compulsive set of features that they're looking for, unlike the iPod owners who march to the tune of Apple's fashion sense most of whom depend on their parents to buy them the iPods.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
BaalthazaaR @ 3/25/2008 2:56:54 PM # Q
Come out to the frikkin CITY, kid, where you can observe LOTS of people going about their USUAL REAL-LIFE NON-GEEK BEHAVIOR. What I've just described with that Centro & iPod scenario is the NORM. I've seen it with Treos, I've seen it with Blackberries, I've seen it with Razrs, I've seen it with anything that's NOT an iPhone.

Ya'll don't really believe that I'm Farmer Jon's young'un now, do ya?. I see a few PDAs and a couple of Treos in daily use. But mostly it is trending towards winmob smartphones and Blackberries. I've seen only two adults and herds of teens with iPods and those two adults use them only in the gym.

RE: PDAs are DEAD
hkklife @ 3/25/2008 3:21:23 PM # Q
I've got a 755p with a 4gb miniSDHC card in it and a 2gb card in my desk drawer. I've also got a 160gb iPod Classic (that I detest but that's another story entirely) chock full of high-bitrate music. I also have a cell phone with a 1gb microSD card in it with a hundred or so songs on it. All of the above devices have at least serious flaw when I just want to grab my music collection and hit the road.

Out of those 3 devices, it'd be the most convenient to use my Treo as a mp3 player since I usually take it with me wherever I go. But due to Palm's uttterly inexplicable inability to get a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack on any Treo or Centro, I don't even want to bother with the lame Palm 2-in-1 stereo headphones or a fragile 2.5mm->3.5mm headphone adapter. And I'd have to do A2DP or fiddle with a miniUSB to 3.5mm stereo adapter on the my Moto cell phone so that eliminates that possibility as well. The end result is that I end up making do without my music unless I am going on a trip and can justify hauling the iPod along with me. Believe it or not, I usually just end up tossing a battered old Sony CD walkman + a few CD-Rs of MP3s in my bag, as it's a lot easier to have one of those get stolen/lost/broken than it is an iPod.

It's funny, Palm likes to bill the Treo/Centro as a convergence device but due to several factors (no 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, no FrankenGarnet support for SDHC cards larger than 4gb) I keep geting that impression that Palm doesn't really want to try to even give anything related to multimedia more than a very half-hearted effort. I've had this feeling, oh, since the release of the m500. All of that storage (relatively speaking) available with the SD/MMC slot on the m500 and no audio support other than bleeps & bloops! And look at the debacle of the T|T's launch in 2002: Palm didn't have RealPlayer ready to go and then there was the horrible audio-out quality and THEN the weak volume problem that carried over to the T2. Palm dragged their feet on color screens first, then on external storage, then on large amounts of RAM, then on integrated wireless etc etc.

Had Palm aggressively pushed their devices as "MP3 PDAs" or "Multimedia Organizers" or "PMP Cell Phone Companions" or what you want to call it starting in 2001/2002, they could have captured a LOT of the teenybopper-type market. Sony was YEARS ahead of the rest of the industry with the release of the N710C in '01. The only remote chance Palm ever had of getting anything accomplished was with the stunningly high value Zire 31 in '04 which still came too late to stop the iPod juggernaut.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon 755p

RE: PDAs are DEAD
mikecane @ 3/25/2008 4:10:33 PM # Q
>>>You do realize that that situation is entirely different from the PDA/phone convergence scenario, don't you?

The Sin Of Too-Fast Reading.

God, someone close the italics tag!!!

RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 4:12:13 PM # Q
It's funny, Palm likes to bill the Treo/Centro as a convergence device but due to several factors (no 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, no FrankenGarnet support for SDHC cards larger than 4gb) I keep geting that impression that Palm doesn't really want to try to even give anything related to multimedia more than a very half-hearted effort.

I think there's no question that Palm was late to the game with multimedia. That's pretty much a no-brainer, at this point. But I think it's a little bit unfair to say the Centro or Treo isn't a good convergence device because it's not a multimedia powerhouse. That's like saying the iPhone isn't a good convergence device because it's not a good PDA. I think the truth is that Apple and Palm are coming at the convergence concept from different angles entirely. The Palm (pick your version) was never meant to be a device to carry around all your music and media. It was meant first and foremost to be an information storehouse, starting with businesspeople and working its way down to the masses. The media applications only started getting attention in the late 90's/early 00's when everyone and his brother started carrying a PDA. The iPod started with the masses and is working its way up to the businesspeople. They reflect different priorities altogether.

The Centro isn't meant for people who want to replace their iPod and cell phone. It's meant for people who want to replace their PDA and cell phone, or who want to get PDA functionality for the first time. Those are very different sets of customers.



RE: PDAs are DEAD
bhartman34 @ 3/25/2008 4:16:04 PM # Q
The Sin Of Too-Fast Reading.

God, someone close the italics tag!!!

My bad. Sorry about that. Hopefully that closed it. :)

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