Handspring Finishes Up Rough Quarter

Posted By: Ed Monday, April 15, 2002 4:41:03 PM

Handspring has just announced the results from its most recent financial quarter. Citing weak sales of its Visor line of handhelds, the company had a net loss of $19.2 million, or 18 cents a share. Handspring's revenues were $59.7 million, down 15% from the previous quarter and down 52% from the same quarter last year.

Excluding amortization of deferred stock compensation and other items, the company reported a pro forma loss of $19.2 million, or 14 cents per share. Analysts had been predicting a pro forma loss of 12 cents a share.

Last quarter, the company had a net loss of $19.8 million, or 16 cents a share. It reported revenues of $70.5 million. During the same quarter last year, the company lost 26 cents per share.

The company's ending cash and investments balance was $159.4 million, of which $108.7 million was unrestricted. At the end of the previous quarter, it had $175.5 million, of which $124.8 million was unrestricted.

While it is true that the winter months are traditionally weak for handheld sales, Handspring's quarter has to have been hurt by the delay in the roll-out of the Treo line of smartphones, the company's flagship product. A parts shortage early this year delayed the product's release in the U.S. for at least a month.

It shipped 47 thousand Treos to retailers during this quarter but said that sales to consumers have been smaller than hoped.

"We are seeing sell-through at a lower rate than we had predicted,'' Ms. Dubinsky said this afternoon. The company plans to increase its marketing efforts.

During a conference call with analysts in January, Ms. Dubinsky said her company would hereafter be concentrating on the Treo, with the Visor line of standard handhelds getting less attention.

Back in January, Ms. Dubinsky predicted that the company would be profitable by this current quarter, which ends in June. Today, she said that is no longer likely to happen. Instead, she expects her company to lose between 9 and 13 cents a share this quarter. She said they now expect to be profitable by the end of the year.

After closing the day up 11% to $3.72, Handspring's share price dropped 15% to $3.19 in after hours trading.

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Down

down down down like a visor

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:06:50 PM #
their stock is going to drop like a visor - i mean a brick.
RE: down down down like a visor
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:11:51 PM #
Pro-Sony again.

Yeah, Up, Up, Up ~ The price of CLIE is going Up Up and Up!! (hey, it breaks the $500 limits already, let's see it break the $600 again!)

RE: down down down like a visor
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:14:25 PM #
I said nothing about sony.
RE: down down down like a visor
big_raji @ 4/15/2002 5:25:10 PM #
I keep hitting "Refresh" on my stockmarket webpage, and keep seeing the share value for Handspring go down. It's almost entertaining. Damn, I'm bored.

I'm gonna be purchasing some Handspring stock now. I'm sure it'll pick up from this.

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RE: down down down like a visor
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:40:01 PM #
I think the Treo is selling well. Why would people buy the Visor when it is being discontinued? Makes no sense. I was a bit surprised that they had 18% retail sales last month or was it last quarter according to the news release a few days back?
RE: down down down like a visor
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 8:56:29 PM #
Pro-Sony again.

Yeah, Up, Up, Up ~ The market share of CLIE is going Up Up and Up!! (hey, it breaks the 18% limits already, let's see it break the %40 again!)

RE: down down down like a visor
Ed @ 4/15/2002 10:13:41 PM #
> I was a bit surprised that they had 18% retail sales last month or was it last quarter according
> to the news release a few days back?

It was for the month of February:
www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=3300

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News Editor

RE: down down down like a visor
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2002 12:56:30 PM #
>> Why would people buy the Visor when it is being discontinued? <<

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Visor. I know Dubinsky made her remark, but I suspect that was premature and not entirely true. In spite of the larger form factor, Visor (and the Springboard) are still quite functional and useful. Is there another PalmOS handheld on the market that allows the use of a modem and a keyboard at once (like for e-mail)? TWO--the HandEra 300 and the TRG Pro. None of the other "mainstream" models (Palm, Sony) do, but the Visor does.

What needs to happen more than anything is for the price of Springboards (especially memory modules) to decrease. That would put the price/functionality/size equation more in line where HS could make money.

Handspring puts all their eggs in one basket...

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:12:51 PM #
...and the basket breaks, big suprise. This would be like Gateway or Dell focusing all their efforts into Webpads and letting their desktop/laptop lines fall into decay. Incredibly foolish on their part.
RE: Handspring puts all their eggs in one basket...
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:20:49 PM #
Obviously, you're referring to the Treo. It wouldn't matter whether the Treo was a success or not for this quarter anyway. It just hasn't been out long enough.

That having been said, they'd better bring some retail presence for the Treo to the fore (I'd live to actually look at the device in person before I buy it). I live in the San Francisco area (the supposed center of digital technology) and haven't seen one in a Best Buy, CompUSA, Staples, Circuit City, etc., and I've been looking. Now someone will invevitably tell me that they live here too and the devices are all over the place. If so, there clearly needs to be more placement.

As for putting all their eggs in one basket...they don't have a choice.

RE: Handspring puts all their eggs in one basket...
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:29:20 PM #
...................

CompUSA (Market & 3rd?) has it..........

RE: Handspring puts all their eggs in one basket...
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:33:42 PM #
I have to agree with the original poster. When Handspring shifted to the Treo, they really shifted to it. I just don't get the feeling from them anymore that they are pushing the Visor line as a viable devices. If you are the #2 PDA producer and you basically drop the line that got you there, well I just don't see how you can succeed using that approach.
RE: Handspring puts all their eggs in one basket...
cyruski @ 4/16/2002 12:09:22 PM #
i think handspring is doing something -right- here focusing on the treo. they see the future again.

i mean, before 10 years we will have switched to 3G and not many people will prefer to buy external PDAs that time according to what we heard about 3G- the devices and capabilities. altough i'm a huge supporter of Palm- Bluetooh- Mobile now, i don't think it will be the same in 10 years.

cyruski!

Incorrect info

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:23:38 PM #
Ed,

The Wall Street's expectation of 12 cents is "Excluding amortization of deferred stock compensation and intangibles". On this basis, handspring's lost is 14 cents, only 2 cents lower than the estimate.

See:
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-882981.html


Fixed
Ed @ 4/15/2002 5:29:21 PM #
I think we both realized that at the same time. I was already fixing it while you were still writing. I wish analysts and such people could be a little clearer about what they were talking about, though you'd think by now I was used to the 17 different ways they total up the numbers.

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News Editor

donna d said new handheld is coming

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:23:37 PM #
in the conf call, she said a new visor is coming. No details given.
RE: donna d said new handheld is coming
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:58:52 PM #
Where in the conference call does Donna D. say that there is a new handheld and why haven't Ed picked up on it?
RE: donna d said new handheld is coming
Ed @ 4/15/2002 6:42:12 PM #
You guys have to give me a chance. I wasn't able both listen to the conference call and write anything useful about it at the same time. Here's what I have on the new models:
www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=3297

Please continue this conversation there.

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News Editor

RE: donna d said new handheld is coming
TDS @ 4/15/2002 11:16:40 PM #
C'mon, Ed, You have two ears! Just put a earpiece of a phone up to each ear, and write two articles at the same time on two laptops! What is so hard about that? Next you are going to tell us that you have a life outside of Palminfocenter...

:)


Yeah whatever

peter167 @ 4/15/2002 5:27:47 PM #
It again just proves that Jeff Hawkins and his colleagues are incapable to run a profitable business. HOWEVER, it does not mean that they are short on ideas and/or innovation. Business is different from lab. You know what I mean...

Should Palm hire them back right now? It looks like a good opportunity, as Palm seems to be on the right track.

******************
Lie is the future.

RE: Yeah whatever
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 6:22:20 PM #
If he they join palm, they will run palm the handspring way which inevitably will bring down palm like HS. Anyway HS has never been profitable.

Taco bell ad

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 5:32:29 PM #
It just goes to show that Jeff should run his company, not dance around in taco bell ads.
RE: Taco bell ad
Hed @ 4/15/2002 6:00:26 PM #
Um, I think you are referring to Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com. He is the one doing commercials for Taco Bell.

Now that I think about it, maybe this could be "the hot new handheld" for Handspring. I can see it now: the Visor Steak. Mmmmmmm....

Cash for only 8 months?

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 9:14:17 PM #
From a cursory glance it appears HS only has enough cash to burn for another 8 months or so at the rate they are going. Let's hope Treo turns out to be a big success for them.
RE: Cash for only 8 months?
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 9:51:23 PM #
Treo is a luke warm flop. I doens't have good design and the color screen.
Cash for only 8 /quarters/
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 10:06:03 PM #
You made a small error in your math. While it is true that they went from $175.5 million to $159.4 million, this took a quarter, not a month. So they have at least a couple of years if their course can't be changed. I think it will, they hope to be profitable by the end of December.
RE: Cash for only 8 months? Fuzzy Math.
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 10:10:11 PM #
I think your math is wrong. They lost 19.7 Million this quarter. They have about $108 in unerestricted cash and stock. That gives them roughly 5 quarters. 5 quarters is 3 months, that means they can lose money for at least another 15 months (1 and 1/4 years) before we will remember them as handspring.com

No High quality Color device, no profits ahead....

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 10:19:53 PM #
I think they begin to realize that Sony are much faster than their original target, Palm. While they can wait a very long time before launching prism, they would have to shorten their R&D period and compete fiercely with Sony in cost and innovation.

Springboard used to be a good idea..... when Palm is still relying on Vx. Now they must find the edge.

If they can't do it this end, it is bye bye baby...

RE: No High quality Color device, no profits ahead....
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2002 10:54:36 PM #
whatever happen to treo color anyway? if it take them that long just to fix color glitch. I start to wonder if they even capable to make new ultra-thin OMAP PDA with multimedia and the whole caboodle.


I start to get the scarry feeling the first generation of OMAP will be an incredible flop.

RE: No High quality Color device, no profits ahead....
TDS @ 4/15/2002 11:23:36 PM #
From day one Handspring announced that the color version would not be out until Summer of 2002. They are right on schedule.

RE: No High quality Color device, no profits ahead....
big_raji @ 4/16/2002 12:39:46 AM #
Did Handspring take part in or show any interest in OS5?

Are they going to stick to communicators, using OS4?

I'd imagine that a Treo using OS5, expansion slot of some sort, Jog dial, Hi-Res, CDMA or GSM, 3G or GPRS, SMS, etc... would break the US$1000 mark for a PDA

---
What's Wrong With This Picture?
http://raj.phangureh.com/picture.html

Delivery

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2002 6:02:24 AM #
It shipped 47 thousand Treos to retailers during this quarter but said that sales to consumers have been smaller than hoped.

Strange effect, here in Europe Handspring won`t/can`t deliver the products we want to buy.
There are no stores who sell Handspring.

handspring isn't going

PIC mobile user @ 4/18/2002 12:06:29 PM #
to bounce back- pun intended! sell your stock while u can!!
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