Comments on: Palm Q1 FY07 Conference Call Highlights

Palm held their fiscal first quarter conference call today with analysts and shareholders. Palm's CEO Ed Colligan gave investors an update on Palm Inc's performance during the past quarter and went over future plans and goals going forward. He also revealed some new details on a upcoming, competitively priced Treo model due to be released shortly and a large scale advertising campaign to follow.
Return to Story - Permalink

Article Comments

 (49 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Start a new Comment Down

Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:

The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/21/2006 9:28:12 PM # Q
1) Palm has abandoned traditional handhelds.

- Are lack of PDA sales because no one wants them anymore or does no one want them because Palm has nothing for sale worthy of buying. TVoR says the death of PDAs was a self-fulfilling prophesy. A cynical (horrors!) TVoR would say this is by design, since smartphone margins are exponentially higher than traditional PDA margins.

2) Palm has failed to innovate in the world of smartphones.

- Handspring created the Treo 600 and handed it to Palm. The Treo 650 and Treo 700p are trivial updates to the Handspring design. The Treo 700w, Treo 700 wx and Treo 750v are likewise trivial updates to the Treo 600. Palm has almost nothing to show for 3 years of "innovation". Such a glacial rate of improvement is suicidal in the uber-competitive world of handset providers.

3) Palm's competition have now finally decided it's worth their time to try and persue the smartphone market.

- Nokia's N61, Motorola's Q and a dozen other entries soon to come will all take a HUGE chunk out of Palm's hind (financial) quarters, like a pack of rabid hyenas attacking a sickly, crippled antelope.

4) Palm neglected and then lost the only feature it had that truly mattered (PalmOS) and lacks the resources to create its own OS.

- Windows Mobile (customised) is the future.

5) Palm is on the auction block.

- The only way a company as small + poorly managed as Palm can survive competing in a cutthroat market against powerhouses like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, etc is to become a division of a larger company. Failure to find a buyer would rapidly prove fatal for Palm. Only problem is this: Palm's assets (Treo design, Palm name) are not worth its current market cap. MOST companies that could logically have an interest in Palm are smart enough to acquire/develop from scratch everything Palm has at a far cheaper cost than what it would now take to buy Palm outright. Losing PalmOS devalued Palm's true value MASSIVELY.

6) Mobile OSes are rapidly becoming irrelevant.

- Most cellphone users are OS-agnostic (and OS-oblivious), and the oft-touted PalmOS application library is no longer a significant advantage for Palm.

7) Palm had nothing of interest in the pipeline.

- Palm's corporate policy from Day 1 has been to charge stratospheric prices for (cheap) incremental upgrades. The company has been doing this fo so long it's incapable of true innovation (unless you consider the corporate games Palm played with IPOs, stock splits, PalmSource splits, etc to be "innovation").

8) Palm's sales are tanking and are are only going to get worse.

- Every new phone released by a competitior is another few percent decrease in Palm's revenues. With the company now almost totally dependent on smartphone revenues the bottom line is irreparably damaged by declining smartphone sales. Attempting to obfuscate this with absurd claims that Palm is now more concerned with market share than profitability, all while also refusing to adjust Palm's guidance (public prediction of company financial performance) is truly laughable. Does Palm think investors are absolutely clueless/blind? Apparently.

9) Palm is an AMATEUR in the world of handset suppliers.

- Pros like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, et. al. don't screw up massively year after year the way Palm continues to do.

10) Palm's traditional customer base (PalmOS devotees) have run out of patience.

- After 3 years of cutting Palm a copious amoint of slack, the Palm faithful have been rewarded with a (biotch)slap in the face followed by a knee in the groin. Like so many battered spouses, finally many PalmOS fans have made the difficult decision to end the abuse by leaving.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry Kiddies, but I've seen the future and it ain't pretty. Palm is going to get bought out soon and you won't like the results. My suggestion if you like PalmOS: load up on as many Samsung i500, Tungsten T3, Zodiac 2 and CLIE TH55 as you can afford. And remember a few cans of peas for the bunker in case Goo(e)d Old Mike Cane should happen to cum by.

TVoR

By the way, anyone asked my Dear Dianne Hackborn what she's doing at Google these days? Bwahahahahah!

;-O

RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
VampireLestat @ 9/21/2006 11:18:36 PM # Q
1) I agree.
2) I agree.
3) I agree.
4) I agree.
5) I agree.
6) I agree.
7) I agree.
8) I agree.
9) I agree.
10) I super agree.

RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
Rhauer @ 9/22/2006 8:53:25 AM # Q
Are the TX's readily available or are they going to discontinuing them. I still preper to pair a highend pda with a good small business phone. I they would make at leaset one more top of the line pda. It can't be that hard. They can even use garnet.

RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
twizza @ 9/22/2006 9:34:44 AM # Q
TVOR...a healthy applause for you.

mobileministrymagazine.com
antoinerjwright.com
RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
hkklife @ 9/22/2006 10:01:40 AM # Q
The TX is still readily available, as is the Z22 and the newly-repackaged T|E2. I doubt Palm is going to discontinue the PDA line--they might can the E2 due to its age but they will definitely keep one or two models for the forseeable future.

The margins are still decent and there actually may be a sales spike in PDA sales in the coming two quarters as people try to "stock up".

I currently have a TX in addition to my 700P. I am going to buy another TX and possibly a Zodiac 2 if the price is right. If the 700P is not patched pronto I may seriously go back to the TX + cellphone (RAZR? KRZR?) combo again, even if it means giving up BT DUN with the TX.

I think Palm's relucatance/refusal to fix the 700P's major bugs might be a way of quietly telling its users that WinMob is the "better" OS and the wave of the future. By buying back stock and paring their non-Treo and non-WinMob lines down to the bare minimum (Z22, TX, 700P) Palm is definitely setting the company up for an acquisition.

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

RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
serpico @ 9/22/2006 3:33:47 PM # Q
I went back to a TX + Motorola L6 from a Treo 650. I am tired of the limitations of the 650 and it's bulkiness. The L6 is thinner than the RAZR and good for just cell phone tasks. The TX will be a big jump from the Treo 650 and still run Palm OS which I love more than Windows Mobile. I got a great deal on both items and still saved money over a new Treo. Even got the free wireless keyboard with the TX.

RE: Let's cut the B.S., Mr. Colligan. Here are the facts:
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/23/2006 1:23:56 AM # Q
TVOR...a healthy applause for you.

Thanks 'Toine. Someone has to tell it like it is. ;-O

Unfortunately, Palm is being mismanaged out of existence.

I've tried to keep 'em honest, but to no avail. Fortunately I'm stocked with enough CLIEs to last a decade and I already have all the PalmOS apps I could ever need.

TVoR

Reply to this comment

check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market

craigdts @ 9/21/2006 11:07:06 PM # Q
What kind of idiocy is this? Someone shut up the CFO - at 42:40 - listen to his remarks -

"antipated competition . . . . competitors would grow the market . . . expand the market to consumer base and bring more into the category"

OK so they thought competitors would grow the consumer market. Ok, fine. First of all, why count on others to expand the market. Secondly, if you thought they would have expanded the market then where is your stinkin low end GSM and CDMA treo. The market is not going to expand TO you palm, you have to get it.

So is it growing or not. He sounds double minded.

that statement from the CFO blew my mind.

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
VampireLestat @ 9/21/2006 11:22:01 PM # Q
Where is you listening to this?

I want the link so I can listen to this bunch of monkeys when I get home from work.

Thanks in advance.

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
VampireLestat @ 9/21/2006 11:26:54 PM # Q
Where ARE you listening to this... nasty typo.

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
craigdts @ 9/21/2006 11:31:37 PM # Q
here now http://biz.yahoo.com/cc/3/72493.html

or you could go to palms investor page.

I'm wondering if palms inability to think outside the box and make a feature phone for the consumer market is going to kill them IF it hasn't already.

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
VampireLestat @ 9/21/2006 11:40:27 PM # Q
Thanks Craig

Failure to produce a SMALL PalmOS phone killed Palm
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/21/2006 11:58:51 PM # Q
I'm wondering if palms inability to think outside the box and make a feature phone for the consumer market is going to kill them IF it hasn't already.

There's nothing "outside the box" about releasing a simple model to expand the PalmOS smartphone appeal - it's just common sense. And naturally, being common sense it's also beyond Palm to create a basic PalmOS phone.

This wasn't rocket surgery or even Jeff Hawkins-styled brain science. A device like this from Palm could have been a smash hit in the $200 price level:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8994/gspda-announces-the-xplore-m70/

TVoR

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
SeldomVisitor @ 9/22/2006 8:24:22 AM # Q
We will have to see what the "el cheapo" TREO is going to be like. They said "soon", maybe not this quarter (suggesting late November at best). They SAY it'll be cheap AND functional.

Waiting with bated breath!

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
craigdts @ 9/22/2006 8:50:41 AM # Q
TVOR wrote, "There's nothing "outside the box" about releasing a simple model to expand the PalmOS smartphone appeal - it's just common sense. And naturally, being common sense it's also beyond Palm to create a basic PalmOS phone."

I agree, however for palm this is "outside the box." Someone has convinced them that they are going to continue to be able to charge an arm and a leg for low end devices. They could have put out a feature phone with no touch screen, no sd slot and cut the price. If they did that . . . they would be in the same position they're in now except they would be hurting nokia, motorola, etc. by moving people away from dumb phones.

Palm's insistence on being "mobile computing company" has put them in a box and may have stopped them from adapting.

They might then be talking about 3 product lines again - smartphone, featurephone and pda.

RE: check out confusion at 42:20 - consumer market
hkklife @ 9/22/2006 10:15:47 AM # Q
Palm traditionally has had a very hard time releasing COMPETITIVE and non-neutered lower end devices.

The IIIe was more like a cheaper midrange model instead of a low end device.

The m100 wasn't a half-bad first attempt but it was SO ugly and the screen was really small.

The original Zire was a joke in every way imaginable, as was the Zire 21.

Then Palm hit the ball out of the park with the Zire 31---STILL arguably the best bang for the buck mobile device *EVER* (not just for PDAs but anything). A decent screen, 16mb REAL RAM, a decent d-pad, SD slot and a headphone jack. For $100 you had a capable device that could be a PDA, a game player, a photo viewer, an e-book reader or an mp3 player. Palm could easily resurrect the Zire 31 FF, call it a Z32, add a FAT32 or SDHC compatability and tweak the OS. It'd still be the perfect $100 device.

The Z22 is a step backwards from the Zire 31 in every way other than processor speed, RAM, and OS. NVFS is of questionable value on a low end device and the Z22's lack of a headphone jack or SD slot is apalling.

With idiotic "value subtractions" like removing the IR port, I doubt anyone will give the budget Treo a look in this day and age. Two years ago or even last year, yes...but not now.

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

Reply to this comment

Abandoning traditional handhelds???

bleedingedge @ 9/21/2006 11:41:56 PM # Q
I have known, in my heart of hearts, that "traditional" handhelds were sliding in popularity, replaced by these mini keyboards with antennas otherwise known as smartphones.

I still have a HUGE need for a traditional, non-keyboard form, handheld for work. I have about 10 different medical reference books in electronic form on my handheld and I use them about once every 30 minutes. EVERYONE I know in medicine also uses a traditional handheld. What are we all to do when the Palm handheld really dies? I don't need another cell phone. I doubt Apple will jump in, especially as yet another company in the handheld industry as important as Palm is failing. Even if they do, all of those electronic reference publishers will have to re-write all that software...

Is there no other industry other than medicine and medical education that still relies so heavily on traditional handhelds???

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
VampireLestat @ 9/21/2006 11:54:23 PM # Q
I am a professional and I prefer handhelds for their larger screen and grafiti. I can write without moving my eyeballs, like you have to do when using a keyboard.

There is indeed a strong market for handhelds. Palm Inc is simply stupid and they are disabusing that market by not releasing updates and new products. This is simply one of those crazy corporate stories where companies goes wrong and they just dont realize it.

Palm has no idea where its going, proof of that is how many times they changed their objective and business plan. Now they 100% into Treos and they swear by that. Big error in my opinion.

As for now, I will continue to use my TX. I might buy 1 more spare even though Palm Inc does not deserve anymore of my money, and then I guess we will have to turn to Dell or HP handhelds. The X51v has VGA at least, so I guess I would have to go back to that if I have no choice.

You know though, Palm can change its decision about handhelds in a second. Like I said earlier, they have changes their plans dozens of times in the last couple of years and they will continue to change. So who really knows...

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
VampireLestat @ 9/22/2006 12:00:53 AM # Q
PalmInfocenter really should add an Edit button! I apologize for all the retard looking typos in the previous posts. I can't correct them.

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/22/2006 12:10:18 AM # Q
I still have a HUGE need for a traditional, non-keyboard form, handheld for work. I have about 10 different medical reference books in electronic form on my handheld and I use them about once every 30 minutes. EVERYONE I know in medicine also uses a traditional handheld. What are we all to do when the Palm handheld really dies? I don't need another cell phone. I doubt Apple will jump in, especially as yet another company in the handheld industry as important as Palm is failing. Even if they do, all of those electronic reference publishers will have to re-write all that software...

Is there no other industry other than medicine and medical education that still relies so heavily on traditional handhelds???

I feel your pain, but you still have time to prepare for the apocalypse, my son. Get a brand new Tapwave Zodiac 2 (128 MB RealRAM™, two SD slots) for only $125 direct from the company that used to support them. Buy 3 and ensure you'll be able to enjoy Lexidrugs, Sanford, Skyscape, etc in all their glory for years to come. Just remember to hide your precious Zodiac 2 stash from colleagues when their craptastic Tungstens all die of Deadly Digitizer Drift Disease (D4).

TVoR

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
Tamog @ 9/22/2006 2:51:17 AM # Q
Hi,
I thought the same thing...until my Treo came.

Best regards
Tam Hanna

Find out more about the Palm OS in my blog:
http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
Tuckermaclain @ 9/22/2006 6:45:39 PM # Q
I can't believe that I am considering a Windows-Powered smartphone. I, too have a ton of Skyscape stuff I use every day. Anybody have any idea if Styletap can emulate a Palm ROM ID? Could I assign a ROM value and use all my current Skyscape stuff? Hate to think of a day when I can't buy a new Palm OS PDA.

RE: Abandoning traditional handhelds???
hkklife @ 9/22/2006 9:12:35 PM # Q
"That" day will likely arrive sometime around June-July '07 or so...basically when all remaining retail stocks of the TX and Z22 are exhausted.



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

Reply to this comment

If only car companies would imitate palm

drw @ 9/22/2006 12:35:19 AM # Q
I bought a '71 Datsun 240z in 1978. I wish Nissan would re-release a new 240z with NO CHANGES from the original. Why can't they do like palm and never change?

---
David
Reply to this comment

The Day is Near

theog @ 9/22/2006 12:44:36 AM # Q
Even on the the Dell pda sites they are saying that the Axim is dead... now palm says what we all knew was true, Palm PDA is dead.

This is a sad year in history....

The only hope we have is that the company that purchased palm source will make their own PDAs and continue serving those who do not wish to move to a smartphone. I know the cell phone companies are loving this switch. Oh, well....

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.

RE: The Day is Near
VampireLestat @ 9/22/2006 1:02:24 AM # Q
PalmInc stock down an amazing 7.1% in 1 day yesterday!

Source http://investor.palm.com/

theog, some company will always make PDAs, you will see.
PS. Yes, John Kerry would have been the guy. This guy is in my opinion the best president the US would of ever had. Amazing man from what I saw during his speeches. Shame he lost. Hope he presents himself again next time.

RE: The Day is Near
Gekko @ 9/22/2006 7:23:33 AM # Q

It figures that a SOCIALIST german and canadian both like john kerry. any filthy, stinky frenchmen want to chime in too???

europe and canada live off of the goodwill of the American people.



RE: The Day is Near
theog @ 9/22/2006 3:07:39 PM # Q
Gekko, would you STFU? I'm not german or canadian... don't know where you get your info, but you need to check yourself before you go around calling people names. I hope you don't look as stupid as you act... you will be in for a hard life.

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.
OT
freakout @ 9/22/2006 7:08:43 PM # Q
Yes, John Kerry would have been the guy. This guy is in my opinion the best president the US would of ever had. Amazing man from what I saw during his speeches. Shame he lost.

Seen An Inconvenient Truth, VL? It makes you want to cry. Here's an intelligent, articulate man [Al Gore] who walks you through slide after slide of data without any notes at all, who dares to say that looming global environmental catastrophe may be a little more worriesome than a couple of religious nutjobs with bombs strapped to them. And they didn't vote him in!! They instead voted for the guy who can't even spell his own name!!!

Ack. The rest of the world should be given a vote in U.S. elections, given how much potential the results have to screw everybody over. Especially Australia, given how far our nose has been up America's ass lately...

Ahem. We were talking about PDAs?

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650

RE: The Day is Near
theog @ 9/23/2006 12:45:43 AM # Q
freakout,

No, we are not talking about PDAs... we are talking about Treos. Get with the program, man (or woman)! PDAs are dead!

I don't know why these people are worried about John Kerry... his chance has passed... he is a foot note in history... nothing more, nothing less. He is a loser.

Best man for the job alright... I know he loves his new job of "holding down the couch".

I'm sure some idiot someplace is saying, "If John Kerry were in office, Palm would have released a new PDA this year."

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.

Reply to this comment

Treo Feeling the Heat Already

ChiA @ 9/22/2006 4:58:58 AM # Q
slower sales in carrier retails stores due to pricing pressure from competing smartphone products that have recently been introduced.

You can go to a shop in the UK today and buy the Nokia e61 NOW for £299 (or online for £260) WITHOUT ANY CONTRACT.

Most UK cellular carriers are offering the Nokia e61 for FREE with contract.

If both of these new Treos debut in Europe at prices greater than £299 then Palm may as well close their European operations before the bankruptcy courts do it for them.

The competition's not going to get any easier Eddie.


Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. Aaron Levenstein

RE: Treo Feeling the Heat Already
theog @ 9/22/2006 3:11:43 PM # Q
I've heard some nice things about the Nokia e61... on treocentral, of all places. Couple of people jumped ship and said they like the Nokia better than the treo.

I think several things need to happen before these devices become the norm:

1) price reduction
a) per unit
b) data cost
2) reliability, in general, needs to be improved

Palm is going to have a hard road to follow. Being a one-product company has NEVER been a good idea, especially so when you start to see major competition move into your sector.

I wish my dream would come true: Apple buys palm. Apple launches iPalm and iPDA. Of course, I don’t think this will happen…


Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.

RE: Treo Feeling the Heat Already
fierywater @ 9/23/2006 11:38:38 AM # Q
I wish I could get an E61 here in the US for free with a contract. Damn. A one-finger salute to Cingular for pulling a Verizon and planning on releasing a neutered (read: WiFi-less) version.

Reply to this comment

OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO

Gekko @ 9/24/2006 9:14:55 AM # Q

For the Non-Socialists here -


BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO

By Bob Lonsberry

Written September 21, 2006

Hugo Chavez insulted our president.

Hugo Chavez insulted our country.

Hugo Chavez insulted our military.

Hugo Chavez insulted our history.

He said we are a curse on the planet and that we endanger the very survival of humankind. He said that the countries of the world must unite against us.

He hates the United States and everything about us.

Except our money, of course. Our money makes him rich. And it gives him the power to spread anti-American hatred around the globe. His entire regime is built on American money.

So I think we should stop giving it to him.

I think it has become the patriotic duty of all Americans to avoid sending another dime into Hugo Chavez’s particular Third World hellhole. He has called us his enemy. That makes him our enemy.

And we don’t do business with our enemies.

We boycott them.

Remember this word: Citgo. That’s the brand of gasoline you will never buy again. That’s the brand of gasoline you will talk your friends into never buying again.

Because Citgo equals Chavez and Chavez equals hatred of America. And it’s time for real Americans to stop buying Citgo.

Here’s the background.

Hugo Chavez is the dictator of Venezuela. Venezuela would be just another crap-in-a-hole banana farm if it weren’t for oil. Oil that is brought to the American market by the Venezuelan government – through its subsidiary, Citgo gasoline.

You’ve probably heard of it. The “c” is pronounced like an “sh.”

The predecessor to Citgo was started in America by an American in 1910. It took the name Citgo in 1965, and was bought by Occidental Petroleum in 1982. Occidental was a company most noted for its ties to the Soviet Union and Al Gore’s dad. Occidental turned around the next year and sold Citgo to the company that owns the 7-11 convenience stores.

So far, so good.

But it turned dirty in 1986 when the convenience store company sold half of Citgo to something called Petroleos de Venezuela. In 1990, Petroleos de Venezuela bought the other half and owned Citgo lock, stock and barrel.

What is Petroleos de Venezuela? It is the Venezuelan government. It is not a private company, it is a nationalized industry, much like the industries of Cuba, the Soviet Union and other communist countries.

So Citgo is Petroleos de Venezuela, and Petroleos de Venezuela is Venezuela, and Venezuela is Hugo Chavez, and Hugo Chavez is our enemy.

Therefore Citgo is our enemy.

And every dollar you spend on Citgo gasoline is a dollar that cuts America’s throat. I’m not saying that, Hugo Chavez is saying that. At the United Nations and at the conference of unaligned nations, Hugo Chavez said Venezuela would support and lead those nations that wanted to rise up against the United States.

That means he’s going to bankroll the people who hate you and your country.

Or rather, that means he’s going to use your gas money to bankroll the people who hate you and your country.

If you keep buying Citgo gasoline.

So let’s draw the line. Let the Citgo boycott begin now. And let it end when Hugo Chavez is rotting in hell.

Anything less is first cousin to treason.

Some will complain that Americans distribute Citgo gasoline and will be hurt by a boycott. Others will say that Americans own and are employed by the convenience stores and gas stations that sell Citgo gasoline and that they also will be hurt by a boycott.

Tough luck.

I know many fine people who make their living from Citgo gasoline, and I will be sorry if this boycott hurts them. But I owe my country first, and must be loyal to it before I am loyal to my friends. There are other brands of gasoline, and I will gladly go back to familiar convenience stores and gas stations when they begin carrying a brand of gasoline that doesn’t enrich a regime that threatens the safety and freedom of my children.

This isn’t a Republican issue or a Democratic issue, this is an American issue. Hugo Chavez has gotten up and told us what he thinks of us. He has told us by his words and deeds that he hates us and that he wants to tear us down.

He is our enemy. And I will not give aid and comfort to the enemy.

I will not buy Citgo gasoline.

And you must not either.

Together we must tell as many people as we can. We must use the power of free speech and the power of the free market to kick this little tyrant where it counts.

We must change our habits if we are accustomed to buying Citgo gasoline. We must find new service stations and convenience stores. We must change our ways.

Or this man is going to bury us with our own money. He is going to use the wealth we give him to buy the knife that slits our throats and destroys our country.

Be an American, boycott Citgo.

http://www.boblonsberry.com/writings.cfm?story=1990&go=4



RE: OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO
SeldomVisitor @ 9/24/2006 9:17:20 AM # Q
Go away.

[and I hope "the moderator" rapidly removes both these posts - there are forums for such. THis is not it.]

RE: OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO
theog @ 9/24/2006 9:58:44 AM # Q
I'm starting to think Gekko and ET are the same person....

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.
RE: OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO
ChiA @ 9/24/2006 1:22:15 PM # Q
The lizard said:
we [the USA] endanger the very survival of humankind.

Seeing how the USA is the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases he may have a point...

As for your usual line of Canadians and Europeans living off the goodwill of America, that goodwill doesn't seem to be extend towards the British, Canadian and other European troops bravely battling the Taleban whilst the US "scales down" its operation in Afghanistan.

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. Aaron Levenstein

RE: OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO
Ryan @ 9/24/2006 2:31:24 PM # Q
yes, the occasional OT post is fine and all, but the forums are the more appropriate venue for this.

thanks

Ryan, please delete this pathetic thread
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/24/2006 6:23:14 PM # Q
As amusing as Geeko's faux-right wing extremist comments are and the knee jerk reaction that he elicits from people who evidently don't get the joke, he seems to be posting more and more CRAP here these days that has nothing to do with PalmOS PDAs and more to do with good old fashioned trolling.

Please expunge this thread ASAP before even more people have to read Geeko's screed.

Thank you.

TVoR*

(*who has NEVER made and off-topic post to Palminfocenter in the past 7 years...)

RE: OT: BE AMERICAN, BOYCOTT CITGO
Gekko @ 9/24/2006 9:30:16 PM # Q

Ryan knows where my loyalty lies! I just logged on to Brighthand today and look what I saw:

Welcome, Gekko.
You last visited: 11-04-2004 at 03:31 PM
Private Messages: Unread 0, Total 0.

You SOBs!!!!!!



Reply to this comment

Conference Call Transcript

Admin @ 9/25/2006 10:49:22 PM # Q
Just found this if anyone is interested in reading the transcript for this call...


http://seekingalpha.com/article/17349

-Ryan

Interesting quotes
freakout @ 9/26/2006 5:56:25 AM # Q
Well, kinda.

Michael Ounjian - Credit Suisse

Thank you. Ed, as you are looking to get into new markets and really broaden the reach of the product, and at the same time in an, as you mentioned, increasingly competitive environment. How are you thinking about how many new products you will need to introduce each year going forward? I mean, this year, as you have said all year, the four new products. How do you think about that going into next year? Will you need to really expand that significantly? What are the implications for the business model?

Edward T. Colligan

Clearly as the business scales, you know, we hope to have more and more capability to do more things. It may not be just in numbers of products. It may be in how those products work and how we interact with the customers through those products. It may be extending that total mobile computing solution in different directions.

The reality is it is likely that next year, the pace of Smartphones is very similar to what we are doing this year, but we are really trying to invest around our Treos to make them even more compelling and useful and more and more different than everyone else’s. That tends to drive more of a software development effort than it does necessarily device development.

This year we said four new ones mostly because everyone is saying we are a one-product company, and so we wanted to be just very clear that we are expanding that and we are expanding aggressively.

I do not really today want to predict the next number. I would just say a similar pace of development will happen in the next year.

Mike Abramsky - RBC Capital Markets

Thanks very much. There have been some comments made regarding the similarity of past Treo designs to newer designs, or recently new designs. Do you think you need to radically alter the designs, as well as the pricing, in order to reinvigorate momentum? Do you think that some of the newer products that you have in plan will address this?

Edward T. Colligan

Treo continues to be one of the hottest selling Smartphones on the market and continues to garner an enormous amount of buzz in the market, so from what I see on all the TV shows and everywhere you go, people are using Treos. I do not think it has lost any luster or buzz.

I think the new products we come out with, we are clearly trying to continue to improve its designs, but we are not going to change the design and make it thinner just for the reason to sell for a quarter or so.

We want people to keep our products and to love them, and we think battery life through the whole day really matters. We think the usability and all the issues around the usability really matters, like the touch-screen or a full keyboard.

Look, this is a category-defining design. We are going to continue to improve it. Then, we are also going to expand the product line in other areas, you know, and design other types of products around the Treo, in the sense of trying to come out with some new breakthrough designs. I am not saying we do not want to do that, but no sense in breaking something that is really working and is very successful for an awful lot of people. We are going to continue to improve it on an evolutionary basis, but we are really pleased with the Treo and how well it has performed.

Mike Abramsky - RBC Capital Markets

On that regard, is it where the price points fall and where your costs fall that is the thing you are trying to get a better read on in the market and what the response in terms of sell-through will be to those changes, or is it on the top-line in terms of demand through, say, international expansion? What are you looking at to give you that confidence to resume full-year guidance?

Edward T. Colligan

Obviously as we went into the fiscal year, we anticipated additional competition. One of the things we had anticipated is that those competitors would actually grow the market. What we have seen is they really have not grown the market as much as we had anticipated.

So that is one of the dynamics. Although we recognize the dynamic as the competition, we really thought something different would happen, it would expand the market to more of a consumer based -- bring more people into the category. That has not happened, and that is one of the things we are continuing to monitor. (Maybe TVoR's right and no one gives a damn about smartphones after all... - me)

And how's this one for an amusing dodge on the buyout question:

Jeff Kvaal - Lehman Brothers

Great. Ed, there is a lot of talk about potential M&A, and I was wondering if you might share some of your thoughts on how that might develop.

Edward T. Colligan

M&A in what respect?

Jeff Kvaal - Lehman Brothers

Well, there has been talk in the investor community, Ed, that you might become an attractive element of other folks’ portfolio, perhaps, in --

Edward T. Colligan

The only M&A I am focused on right now is building our strategic position from a software and services perspective, and we are really driving very hard on that front to make sure we are using our resources as effectively as possible to build our business.

Our total focus is on executing against our plan. That is what we are doing today. There are a lot of rumors in the marketplace. I really cannot comment on those.

Jeff Kvaal - Lehman Brothers

Are there any particular product areas that you feel are particularly appropriate?

Edward T. Colligan

I am not going to get into details about that. It is just something that is a competitive situation.



Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
What happens if people stop bying (Treo) smartphones?
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/27/2006 1:10:43 AM # Q
Mike Abramsky - RBC Capital Markets

On that regard, is it where the price points fall and where your costs fall that is the thing you are trying to get a better read on in the market and what the response in terms of sell-through will be to those changes, or is it on the top-line in terms of demand through, say, international expansion? What are you looking at to give you that confidence to resume full-year guidance?

Edward T. Colligan

Obviously as we went into the fiscal year, we anticipated additional competition. One of the things we had anticipated is that those competitors would actually grow the market. What we have seen is they really have not grown the market as much as we had anticipated.

So that is one of the dynamics. Although we recognize the dynamic as the competition, we really thought something different would happen, it would expand the market to more of a consumer based -- bring more people into the category. That has not happened, and that is one of the things we are continuing to monitor. (Maybe TVoR's right and no one gives a damn about smartphones after all... - me)


It amazes me that people still just don't get it:

- Dumbphones can now do most of the things people want from their mobile device.

- There is a limit on what people will spend on cellphones.

- Nokia, Mororola, etc. will ALWAYS be able to produce hardware cheaper than Palm.

- Palm has abandoned PDAs and has nothing to fall back on if Treo sales tank. (And even Palm admits that smartphones aren't selling as well as they had planned.)

- Palm is unable to put out new models fast enough to compete with Nokia, Mororola, etc.

Palm is playing a high stakes poker game in which it needs to keep up the appearance of still being a viable company long enough to get acquired by ******. The value of Palm's IP/name declines every month, but Palm's stock value (and therefore takeout price) should also decline every month as failures of Palm's business strategy become increasingly obvious (missed targets, static market, declining sales/market share, no guidance, panicked selloffs, etc). Will the takeout price drop fast enough that Palm's assets are actually still worth buying? Who will blink first? Palm attempting to prop up its stock price by announcing a buyback might come back to haunt them if doing so artificially elevates the company "value" beyond what it's really worth (a little over $1 billion) to ******. The Palm Board of Directors may have gotten a little too greedy in this instance. I'll bet at least a couple of Board members recommended AGAINST this type of Benhamou-styled gamesmanship.

How exciting! Bwahahaha!

TVoR

RE: Conference Call Transcript
SeldomVisitor @ 9/27/2006 6:41:15 AM # Q
More importantly is the fact that PALM management itself thought that The Damn Competition wouldn't be.

That's simply amazing.

Paraphrase:

"...Didn't expand the market enough to make up for the loss of the market that their cheaper roughly-same-functionality phones would take from us..."

Sheesh.

Ya think it HAS been market loss, wait a quarter or two...

RE: Conference Call Transcript
SeldomVisitor @ 9/27/2006 6:45:03 AM # Q
The buyback also decreases - by about half - cash on hand thus also decreases the intrinsic base value of PALM shares.

> ...I'll bet at least a couple of Board members recommended
> AGAINST this type of Benhamou-styled gamesmanship...

Two BoD members are not standing for reelection at the next shareholder meeting.

RE: Conference Call Transcript
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/27/2006 8:58:23 PM # Q
More importantly is the fact that PALM management itself thought that The Damn Competition wouldn't be.

That's simply amazing.

Paraphrase:

"...Didn't expand the market enough to make up for the loss of the market that their cheaper roughly-same-functionality phones would take from us..."

Sheesh.

Don't be naive, hengeem. Jusy because Colligan PRETEND to be stupid doesn't mean they ARE stupid.

Ya think it HAS been market loss, wait a quarter or two...

Indeed. Now that Palm has (intentionally?) suffocated their tradit

With no new compelling product, new AGGRESSIVE competitors being announced every week and a static market Palm is swirling the toilet bowl unless a buyout is quickly negotiated.

The buyback also decreases - by about half - cash on hand thus also decreases the intrinsic base value of PALM shares.

What do you think would have happened to Palm's stock price had they not mentioned the buyback? If the buyback keeps Palm shares at $15 instead of $10 (or lower), it was money WELL spent. Do the math and you'll see...

>>> ...I'll bet at least a couple of Board members recommended
> AGAINST this type of Benhamou-styled gamesmanship...

Two BoD members are not standing for reelection at the next shareholder meeting.

Hilarious. Who were they? Who says there's no honor among thieves?

TVoR

RE: Conference Call Transcript
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/27/2006 10:12:30 PM # Q
More importantly is the fact that PALM management itself thought that The Damn Competition wouldn't be.

That's simply amazing.

Paraphrase:

"...Didn't expand the market enough to make up for the loss of the market that their cheaper roughly-same-functionality phones would take from us..."

Sheesh.

Don't be naive, hengeem. Just because Colligan et. al PRETEND to be stupid doesn't mean they ARE stupid.

Ya think it HAS been market loss, wait a quarter or two...

Indeed. Now that Palm has (intentionally?) suffocated their traditional PDA market they've sold their souls to the Lords of the Cellphone Underworld.

With no new compelling cellphone product, new AGGRESSIVE competitors being announced every week and a static market Palm is swirling the toilet bowl unless a buyout is quickly negotiated.

The buyback also decreases - by about half - cash on hand thus also decreases the intrinsic base value of PALM shares.

What do you think would have happened to Palm's stock price had they not mentioned the buyback? If the buyback keeps Palm shares at $15 instead of $10 (or lower), it was money WELL spent. Do the math and you'll see...

>>> ...I'll bet at least a couple of Board members recommended
> AGAINST this type of Benhamou-styled gamesmanship...

Two BoD members are not standing for reelection at the next shareholder meeting.

Hilarious. Who were they? Who says there's no honor among thieves?

TVoR

RE: Conference Call Transcript
SeldomVisitor @ 9/28/2006 7:53:56 AM # Q
From the shareholder meeting filing (def14):

== "...Two of the four current Class I directors, Gareth C.C. Chang
== and Michael Homer, have not been nominated for reelection at the
== 2006 annual meeting and will cease to be members of the board of
== directors effective as of the Annual Meeting..."

Note - PALM's web site just recently added Chang as not running though it was in the Def14 since Day One:

-- http://investor.palm.com/committees.cfm

[of course, PALM's web site as of the time of this post still has a "Management Team" page that says Hawkins is CTO:

-- http://www.palm.com/us/company/corporate/executive.html

so it's not surprising they have other things wrong, too, from time to time! Giggle.]

RE: Conference Call Transcript
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 9/28/2006 9:51:31 PM # Q
Absolutely hilarious.




WWMSD (What Would Martha Stewart Do)?

Reply to this comment
Start a New Comment Thread Top

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass: