Comments on: Palm Has Better than Expected Quarter

What are you talking about? This is good news, but by no means is it GREAT news. They're still losing money! 15 million in a quarter! Now, this is better than the same quarter last year, but still - how long can they sustain this? Especially at a loss of 51 cents a share!

A quick (very quick) glance at the financial statements indicates they're making progress here, so good news. In light of the poor market, they introduced many new models, driving new sales, while cutting costs and reorganizing. They used more cash than the same quarter last year, but curiously they spent less on R & D than last year's quarter.

If they can continue to draw in Zire buyers then push them up market to more expensive Zires and Tungstens, combined with a general market upswing, then they may even turn a profit and turn cash flow positive. Whoa.

someone wrote:
>how long can they sustain this? Especially at a loss of 51 cents a share!

With around $9 cash per share on the balance sheet, they could sustain this for almost 18 quarters, or until 2007. That should give them a bit of time to turn things around into profitability.

But don't forget that they have to merge in Handsprings potential losses and lose out on PalmSource's royalty income starting next year, assuming the deal is completed.

Unnhgh - too late - I can't stop... AUUGH! HULK WILL SMASH!

*KERPOW*!

I still can't believe how badly Sony has disappointed me. Talk about let downs. Holy feces. SJ33 is a waste of good plastic. TG50 is too restriced (appeals only to those wanting a keyboard). NX series? Boring, poorly speced, way too expensive. Palm is my only salvation, it appears. TT2 isn't to the most exciting product, not by a longshot. But it is the only enticing product (for me anyway) that I've seen so far. I would still prefer a flip cover. But considering what is currently available from PalmOS licensees...I'll take what I can get.

I hope they do too, and put the virtual grafitti area on it at last.

Last week I got a 400MHz XScale PocketPC given free to me by Microsoft for upgrading to VisualStudio2003 (not bad for £200!) - Yes they've got to the point where they are giving them away to the masses now! Problem is they will get market hold doing things like this.

Sadly, as I have never been a fan of PPC's and it's cumbersome MS OS, and the dull looking hardware too, But I have to admit to being more tempted to this OS than ever before. I know it's been said before, but Palm need to produce some PPC bashers, before their last chance slips away. - Like the Sony's but without that bloody awful clamshell/keyboard form factor.

Just one other thought... With the PPC and Palm OS's converging on very similar hardware platforms now. i.e. XScale, 64Mb Ram, etc maybe we could see a Palm OS5.2 / 6.0 "upgrade" for PPCs? and just flash the Palm OS over the top of the Microsoft offering. As the saying goes - "If mohamed won't go to the mountain..."

I hope that Palm sees sense, and can maintain it's position.

The hulk was such a great movie, I was impressed..and palms are cool - go palm yea loosing less money.

"But a Treo 90+ with a standard res display and OS 6 might be nice ..."

Maybe. But it doesn't seem like that would be much of an upgrade to me. Not enough to put out $$$.

I like everything about the 90, except for the screeen...

"But seriously, I can't even count how many times I've posted my disgust with Sony and Palm's recent lineups."

Other than the SJ20 and the SJ22, the Sony line is pretty lacking...

"The Tungsten|C's specs should be standard in everything $400+."

Ooo, I'd like that...

"I don't want to see any more $600 NX's with 16 MB and 200 MHz with a 100 MHz bus. There are $200 Axims with better specs than that for crying out loud."

So I'm not the only one...

Is it me, or is Sony starting to lose their pazaz with their N-line?

"What's Palm and Sony have to offer in the $200 range still? A 33 MHz, 8 MB, 160x160 12 bit color m130? Ohh, Microsoft must be wetting themselves now."

The SJ22 is a lot better for the price (ex. 320x320 screen, and 16MB). I like my m130, but I really feel Palm needs to replace it with something better...

(Why do some people say you can kill two birds with one stone when it's hard enough killing one bird with two stones?)

I can think of a few things I could do with that money. Like buying an Audi, a new gaming PC from Alienware...or the new PowerMac G5 perhaps.

The money would still be wasted but going to better cause; My gadget addiction.

I would use the money to buy and sell Palm's upper management for use in the South American marijuana fields. Then I would force Palm to flood the market with $50 Zires, $200 Zire 71's, and force them to create a 320x480 transflective Palm and not them leave the lab until they have a beta model up and running.

Oh, and then I would bring in Yankowski to entertain me with his ideas of Palm.net and $450 monochrome models.

-Bosco

"Just for safety sake: Drugs are illegal in South American countries!"

Yeah, wish they were illegal in MY neighborhood!

"I would use the money to buy and sell Palm's upper management for use in the South American marijuana fields."

You know... this could spell the end of the war on drugs. Imagine if the drug cartels were mismanaged to death...