Palm Inc. Announces Lower Q4 Revenue Outlook
Palm, Inc. today announced that fourth-quarter revenue will be approximately $230 million, compared with the previously expected $290 million to $300 million. In addition, the company said it will not meet its breakeven profitability expectations for the current quarter, which ends May 31, 2002.
Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers along with other technology products for missing prior estimates. Despite the downturn, the share of Palm branded and Palm OS handhelds in U.S. retail both grew over the last three months.
"Demand in spring did not materialize as we had previously expected, but rather market conditions deteriorated compared to both the year-ago quarter and recent months. While we remain optimistic about the long-term growth opportunities in the sector, we are disappointed that we will not meet our revenue and profitability goals this quarter," said Eric Benhamou, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite the down market environment, Palm is executing well. We expect to report improved gross margins, excellent expense management and a good cash position.
"Over the last three months, we have continued to consolidate our leadership position within the handheld industry. We remain confident that our investments in new markets, new geographies, and a new generation of handhelds will result in renewed and profitable growth in the years ahead," Benhamou said.
In addition, Benhamou said the company is on track to meet its three corporate objectives for 2002, which are as follows:
- Create two well-capitalized, profitable, high-growth companies (one largely device-oriented and the other related to the Palm operating system), each a leader in its business;
- Execute Palm's enterprise strategy on time and on budget; and
- Migrate the Palm operating system and solutions to the ARM processor.
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RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
-Ryan
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
See all those people who pick up NRs.
As I said before, if the current trend continues,
Sony will pass by Palm.
ted
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
But you might be able to see Palm's future from 3com
if things don't change dramatically.
Both have been under the same person's watch.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
Palm is doing just fine.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
The latest ones show Sony is gaining market shares.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
In fact, Sony has surpassed Handspring as No.2 Palm OS device manufacturer for the first time in March. And that means it is taking its march towards the top if Palm does not wake up soon.
Eric Benhamou made a statement that blames a soft market for handhelds as the cause of poor sales at Palm is downright lying. According to ALL the research and stats companies (NPD, Gartner, IDC) it all points that the Palm OS has increased it's market share or are taking the larger share of the market. Aren't CEO's like that taken out to the courtyard and shot? Especially after Enron? Especially when their subsidiary PalmSource is able to maintain and increase market share despite new competition from Microsoft?
No wonder their shares are falling like May showers.
In the c|net article an analyst made a good observation about Palm Inc. They have not been able to come up with innovative products - just tweaks to existing ones. It pains me to see Palm (the hardware) slowly dying. Despite their lead, if they do not reinvent their hardware they will die at their own altar.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
The public buys when the products answers its demands and an affordable price. When foreign companies like SONY supply what the buyer wants, American companies cry about losses and loosing market shares. They should restudy simple Economic princples of Supply and Demand.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
You guys are such morons. I wish some days the iunternet was never invented because now every idiot has a podium. Sigh.
Here we go: Sale for all PDAs are down. Palm OS share of those sales is up - BUT THE OVERALL NUMBER OF UNITS SOLD IS DOWN. Yeah - Palm Inc (the hardware guys) is losing share to the liscensees - but he's not LYING by saying that sales are down because PDA sales are down. you guys have such a juvenile view of things. He is explaining why they haven't met their predicted targets. Those original targets would have already assumed a loss of Palm OS share - nothing on expected their. Sure Sony is doing well and nabbed another couple of percentage points (BTW i like Sony and own a beautiful new NR70). BUT - this isn't nearly the problem that overall PDA sales drop is.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
> See all those people who pick up NRs.
I doubt the few thousand of those $500 devices Sony sells will cover the design and development costs for them. They are completely insignificant in the grand market share scheme. Their only impact is to improve Sony's marketing image for sales of the lower-end devices.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
But in fact it is still growing.
I think when the new market share come out, Palm's
share will be down, while Sony keeps moving up.
Gee. A guy who buys a Sony NR tell me differently?
At least I bought a M515. :-)
It is guys like you who buy Sony instead of Palm that causes this problem.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld compute
Do you really think Sony is struggling? Do you really think Sony has diverted even 1/10 of their resources toward the clie? Have you ever seen a commercial for a clie?
Don't get me wrong I like the clie but to Sony these units are trivial. If Sony were trying to push the clie it would have name brand recognition in a matter of weeks. Spiderman and Green Goblin would have been using clies.
By no means do I think, as some do, that Sony should buy Palm or would even want to. But do not fool yourself into thinking Sony has even entered the fray. The clie is now nothing more than an experiment.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
I couldn't agree more (on the morons part)!
Discussion/Comment Sections seem to be frequented by a very diverse population. Many posts are informative, well reasoned and rational, but alas, an equal amount seem to originate from either people whose brows are not furrowed by the effort of thought, or those with some agenda.
Electronic spaces like these are not the Oxford Union Debating society, nor Stanford's Debate Society, not even Anytown Community College, more like Anytown High School, in the cafeteria - where teachers, alumni and visitors join in the discussion.
Thus, once one starts reading below PIC's contribution, it's probably wise to suspend expectation of much of anything too serious.
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
what do you expect? people will keep buying same old stuff, rehash of V/Vx?
Of course sooner or later the market will tapper off. That's what Sony is learning, keep introducing new model with some sort of compelling feature. At least you can claim it's a new and intereting handheld to own.
The "why do you need that" philosophy finally bit them in the ass!
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
First of all a forum is for EVERYONE to participate in, and yes, including morons sometimes. But to think you have the monopolistic right to YOUR moronic viewpoint, there will never be a thing called "forum". PIC might as well remove this feature and then you can report your monopolistic viewpoint without any discussion - moronic or otherwise.
Secondly, if you read the original c|net article and what the original poster said, in a statement made by Brian Blair, an analyst at hedge fund Bluewater Capital and I paraphrase "If the economic data about consumer spending is any indication, people are still buying electronics,..." he is saying Palm should not be putting the blame on weak market conditions but instead relook at their products.
I also find it funny that you have to qualify your statement by saying that you own an NR70. Does that make your post any better? Give it a little more weight? I think not!
RE: Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
So, to prove your point that the forum is for everyone, you tell someone who expressed their opinion to shut up?
Kind of hypocritical, isn't it?
Whole lotta nothing
RE: Whole lotta nothing
Once Palm OS is seperated. I don't think people care
about this Palm anymore. :-(
RE: Whole lotta nothing
From CNet Asia, Palm Singapore has toned down its usual many marketing events compared to last year. Event like Communicasia being one of the big event to be held in June 2002, Palm is not in at all.
SONY should acquire PALM
I think it's time that a responsible, competent company like SONY acquires PALM.
So much for the ZEN OF PALM.
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
SONY will never acquire PALM
Why?
What value is left at Palm?
The Zen?
Will somebody knowledgable pls step forward and tell the eager audience what remains more worth than a brezel making palm more attractive than - lets say a halve eaten cheesburger.
Benhanoutchi is still by far overpriced with a apple and a egg
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
Otherwise Palm will continue the slide toward the lower end of the PDA market and forced to sell more of cheap stuff just to keep head above water. Palm simply cannot compete in hardware innovation against the big electronic giants. (ie. they have better screen, better memory, and manufacturing overall ability)
frankly, one has to wonder why Palm can survive this long with all their incompetencies.
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
That's pretty funny that you can say that Palm needs Sony to keep their head above the water. Yo dumb*** what kind of OS would Sony use if there was no Palm??? If they bought out Palm and then claimed the OS and the company, there's another problem! Wheres the competition? Handspring? Don't make me laugh. I already laughed too much looking at the Treo 90 trying to be an ugly, overpriced mirror image of the m130. With just Sony and PPC (and a couple other companies), prices would enter close to the thousands for a mid-high end device.
So Palm needs Sony right???
Why???
Seems like Palm is doing a good job sitting on 3/4 of the entire handheld marketshare. Do they really need Sony to sell the OS to anybody? When somebody enters into the market looking for a handheld but don't have a lot to spend, do you think they like the Sony pricetags??? No, it's either the m100 series or the visor series. One more thing I would like to point out is that whenever one Sony comes out, a better replacement comes out in another 3 months. If I bought a top of the line handheld like a Sony NR-70V for $600, I would like it to stay on top for at least a half of a year. I'm sure all you guys who bought the NR are mighty happy right now. Let's see how happy you guys will be after OS 5. ARM!
RE: SONY should acquire PALM
Before we get too much junk
Pointless waste of time
yeah! me too! I mean if you don't have anything to add, don't post. (Actually, this post is also pointless, and a waste of time, so I probably shouldn't have posted it.)
Downturn not due to demand...
Most people who want PDAs or handhelds already have them at this point. I'm still chugging along with my Palm Vx and see no need to replace it with a new color PDA. The b&w unit does everything I want it to do which is just schedules, contacts, and the occasional note.
Frankly, many people don't need PDAs. A sticky note is good enough or something scrawled on a desk calendar. PDAs were cool toys when they came out, but many people don't need them. If you want to play games, then a Gameboy Advanced is the cheaper and better way to go.
RE: Downturn not due to demand...
Most people who want PDAs or handhelds already have them at this point."
This is probably true. If you are right then Sony's attempts to garner consumer interest may be more sucessful than Handera and Palm's attempts to corner the business sector. Marketed properly an arm based machine that will let people carry games, pictures, home movies, vcd and dvds and mp3s can be a killer (once battery and price issues are squared away). When's the last time someone suggested that the market was saturated with cd players and tvs? If you love Palm OS you should not have a problem with Palm and its sisters marrying their PIM functions to multimedia.
"If you want to play games, then a Gameboy Advanced is the cheaper and better way to go."
Why do people keep saying this? A gameboy is great for my kids but the screen is godawful by the standards of a Palm user. If Palmsource comes through with some of what they have intimated, someone will be able to build a decent gaming unit based on the Palm OS. Remember the turbografx express? A machine like that with SEGA's gaming API and Palm OS would be awe inspiring (once battery and pricing issues are resolved).
RE: Downturn not due to demand...
RE: Downturn not due to demand...
How many more V/Vx/m505/m515 can the market take? more of the same stuff obviously won't sell.
RE: Downturn not due to demand...
That said, I think these sites are geared for PDA entusiasts, not users who what to keep track of their names, addresses, appointments, and perhaps a game or two. Most users don't know what version of the Palm OS they have, much less what's going on with OS 6. Palm, Handspring, and definitely Sony have left this user in the dust. What I'm saying is that as products become commodities--as are PCs--you expect the entry level device to get lots cheaper and only offer the essentials. This isn't happening to any great degree with PDAs, or the main manufacturers would all offer a $79 beginner PDA. What I'm saying is that PDA demand is flattening because PDA geeks, who'll appreciate & possibly buy the latest & greatest are a niche market and can't sustain revenues.
Combination PDA, cellphone, MP3 player, digital camera devices are NOT the meat & potatoes of the industry regardless of how popular each of those devices are separately. Palm, Handspring, Compaq, Sony ... get a clue!
RE: Downturn not due to demand...
Don't know about that. consumer interest is still restricted by "why do I need that". Yet when businesses are more often equipping staff with them like mine, you have a market that continues to grow. And the question of "why do I need that" is answered by management with "Because I said so", or "because it's how you get parts X, Y, and Z of your job done".
Tools for business will continue to be an important revenue portion for Palm, HandEra and Symbol IMO.
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Palm has cited a downturn in demand for handheld computers?
A downturn in demand, or a downturn in demand for PALM's handhelds?
I guess replacing/refurbishing/reselling all that defective merchandise can wear away at the old profit margin too!
Yes, I know. Always the cynic...