Palm layoffs follow disappointing quarterly revenue

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

December 17, 2007, 7:49 AM

The same week it announced sharply lower revenues for its second quarter, embattled handheld device maker Palm laid off 10 percent of its workforce.

More than 100 Palm employees were given pink slips last week, according to reports, which the company later confirmed without offering a specific number. Palm counts a staff of around 1,150 worldwide, but is in the process of reorganizing its business following a tough year.

The release of Apple's iPhone largely relegated Palm's Treo to second-class status, and the company has been slow to respond to competition from RIM's BlackBerry and other Windows Mobile providers such as Samsung and HTC.

In addition, Palm's Treo 755 saw a smaller rollout than expected due to certification problems, and the company shelved its plans to release "Foleo," a portable device bigger than a PDA but smaller than a laptop. Palm said it was also surprised to see many customers opting for its lower-priced Centro phones, which negatively affected the company's profit margins.

"Palm is working to sharpen its focus and better align resources behind core initiatives that will make the greatest impact to our business," Palm said in a statement. "To this end, and to ensure that our expenses are in line with projected revenues, we have made some reassignments and reductions in staff. This will better enable us to compete most effectively and ensure our long-term success."

Palm's revenue for its 2008 fiscal second quarter is expected to be around $345 to $350 million, lower than its $370 to 380 million estimate made in October. In the same quarter two years ago, Palm posted record revenues for the company of $444.6 million.

Interestingly, Palm made a strikingly similar declaration one year ago about its fiscal year 2007 second quarter. The company lowered its revenue estimates from between $430 million and $450 million to between $390 million and $395 million, blaming the shortfall on a delayed launch of the Treo 750 in the United States due to certification problems.

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By dougau

edited Dec 17, 2007 - 8:38 PM

Were these jobs in the US or do 100 Chines have to go to work at either the iPod factory or making toys with lead paint?

Score: 0

By MikeTechno

posted Dec 17, 2007 - 12:26 PM

This is sad to see really. Palm use to be a market leader. They use to innovate at both a hardware and software level. They use to constantly impress the market with their designs and innvations. What happened to them? How did they go so stagnent so fast? It always amazes me when a company goes from riding so high to completely going off the tracks so quickly. Any know why this happened to them so fast?

Score: 0

By dlab21

posted Dec 17, 2007 - 10:49 AM

The company lowered its revenue estimates from $430 million to $450 million to $390 million to $395 million...
i guess it should read 450 to 430 and 395 to 390?

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By TIM

posted Dec 17, 2007 - 3:03 PM

"lowered from $430-450 million to $390-395 million"

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Dec 17, 2007 - 9:52 AM

Palm needs to get rid of their Palm OS. The damn thing is half a decade over if not older. Just focus on their WM line.

Score: 0

By KSzostek

posted Dec 17, 2007 - 8:10 AM

Didn't know they still had 100 people working for them. (kidding)

Here is another company with no clue.

Vista has been out a year now and still no update to their Palm desktop (except a poorly done beta a couple months ago.) No updates to their Palm OS in a couple years. There support is a joke.

It's Palm's time to just go away.

Score: 0