Palm Q1 FY09 Conference Call Highlights
Palm Inc. today announced their fifth consecutive quarterly loss today as the company continues its transformation efforts. The company reported a loss of $41.9 million on higher than expected revenues of $366.9 million. During the call Palm CEO Ed Colligan stressed that the company was "still solidly in the midst of its transformation with some significant hurdles yet to come."
The conference call touched on progress on the next generation Palm OS, the possible plateau of Centro momentum and the recent launch of the Treo 800w and Treo Pro products. Colligan also warned that as Palm continues its transition period he expects further losses in the next few quarters to come.
On the positive side this quarter Palm saw higher than expected revenue on record smartphone sell through of 1,029,000 units, up 49 percent year over year. However average selling prices for Palm's smartphones were still relatively low for the company at $284 per unit which led to continued weakness in Palm's gross margins. 90% of total revenue came from the US.
Handheld sales continued to rapidly evaporate as the company has not issued new PDA products since October 2005. 166,000 handhelds were sold during the quarter, which represents a 49% decline from the same period last year. Handheld revenue was a paltry $33.1 million. Palm CFO Andy Brown commented that he expects this trend to continue.
Andy also went on to state that Palm will not see its usual "holiday bump" in handhelds sales given the staleness of the product line. When asked if the current macro economic issues were affecting sales, Colligan states that Palm has not seen an impact yet, but they remain cautious given the unprecedented events of this week.
The Centro continues to remain the driver of Palm's recent smartphone sell through records. The Centro is now available in 30 countries. As Centro momentum peaks, the company is looking towards its recently refreshed Treo line to boost sales and margins going forward.
Palm continues to expand its executive team and announced the hiring of a few new higher level employees. Jeff Devine was introduced as Palm's new Senior Vice President, Global Operations. Mr. Devine comes from Nokia and will be responsible for developing Palm's global supply-chain model. Teri Klein, who comes to Palm from Disney, was also introduced as the new VP, Investor Relations. Colligan also mentioned a few unnamed hires joining the Windows Mobile team from Microsoft and Motorola.
Next Generation Palm OS
The topic of work on Palm's next generation operating system and products was yet again another point of optimistic discussion, but with very little concrete details were given. Colligan noted that Palm made notable progress towards its long range development goals during the quarter. He pronounced that the team has been executing "on time" and "as planned." He stated that development on the next-gen OS, code-named Nova, was firmly on track and he repeated his announcement/delievery window mantra of the first half of calendar 2009.
When pressed for more specific details on the new system software in the Q&A, Ed and Andy again firmly declined to give any specific updates or milestones. Internal work on the new OS is expected to be completed by the end of this calendar year.
Treo Pro Launches
During the quarter Palm launched two new smartphones, the Treo 800w on Sprint and the Treo Pro. Colligan clearly stated that both would see additional carrier launches in the coming quarter. The Treo Pro is just beginning to ship this month. It is being sold unlocked in many markets and will be available in Europe from Vodafone and 02 and from Telstra in Australia.
Colligan also confirmed that the Treo Pro would be sold through a carrier partner in the US (presumably AT&T), but he declined to give a timeframe. In a departure from past introductions, Palm decided to make the Pro available to consumers and business directly in an unlocked version before going through the often lengthy carrier approval process.
The following audio clip is Ed Colligan talking about the next generation product launch timeframe.
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RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
I need a phone.
Sometimes it might be convenient to do web stuff, maybe with location. But not very often nor for very long per instance.
That's about it.
Everything else I need to do I do at the office or at home, not on a phone.
Whatta ya got?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
if you need a phone and you need a pda, you might as well buy a smartphone.
you know my famous theory -
"There's no reason to buy/manage/charge/carry/sync/fight/fumble with 2+ devices when ONE Smartphone can do it all."
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
Ew. That felt wrong just thinking it. But the UI is the most pleasant to use... next to Palm's. :P
Blackberry Bold looks nice, but I hate RIM's software. And WinMob is just one big uninspiring "meh".
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 -> Treo 650 -> Crimson Treo 680
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
I carry a "real" dumbphone in addition to my Treo because it is such a rotten, unreliable device for actually using as a phone.
So I'd just fire up one of my two backup TX's and keep fumbling with 2 devices until something more appealing came along.
In case anyone cares, I use a Verizon v9m (aka RAZR2). Stylish, thin, fantastic reception, voice, and build quality.
Ohn yeah, I'd also keep an eye open for the BB Storm that's supposedly heading to VZW in November. At least I'd finally get beyond Palm's rotten small square screen and no 3.5mm headphone jack!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
It would be a long time before the consequences of Palm's possible collapse would be felt by any of its users.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
let me clarify the premise of the question because you are averting the question at hand - palm went bust and your palmos device broke and there was not another palmos device available. what would you buy?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
Luckily the choices e.g. the ones from HTC abound.
I think the days of Android devices are rather too early for me to form any conclusions.
I hope they'll stay afloat and deliver the Nova devices next year.
http://palmdoc.net
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
But I still prefer using the PIM apps on my old PalmOS handhelds.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
Combine that with the vice grip that Apple has on access to the device - especially after coming from a hackable/customizable OS like Palm - and we're talking seriously frustrating. WiFi sync workarounds, virtually non-existent backup/restore options, ad nauseum. Had it for two months, but when the Bold comes out I'll probably switch since I doubt the first half of 2009 will produce anything from Palm other than excuses and vapor.
They missed the boat ages ago and if any POS-compatible device does eventually come out, most everyone who cared will have moved on to other devices.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
I don't want to buy the same phone again (where's the fun in that?) nor "upgrade" to the Centro - that would be essentially the same phone. So I bought a TX as backup (I have 5 years of PIM data I cannot lose - without the Palm PIM I fear I wouldn't be able to make one single day ;-)
So, here are my conclusions for my mobile future:
- Palm OS is dead.
- Palm OS II will follow Cobalt, ALP and thus not even survive its first year.
- WinMob is out of question for obvious reasons
- I don't want to sell my life to Apple. And I want a keyboard
- RIM only works with their proprietary and expansive software, and I heard that 3rd party programming for those devices must be hell of Earth.
that leaves me with
- Symbian. It's awkward to use, but their opening the platform in the future, the consolidation into one interface only (S60) looks promising. Currently, the E71 and E90 look tempting.
- Android! in some weeks we'll know more. Certainly the 1st gen devices won't be the hit, but maybe the second gen. The showcased 3rd party applications look _very_ promising, and with an open source system I think it would be safe to but one without selling my life to Google.
So, I just hope that my arthritic Treo/TX combo survives until Android v2 and then I'm gone.
IIIe -> m505 -> T3 -> Treo650 -> Treo680
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
>>
>> I need a phone...
>
>yes, but -
>
> a. you're an old fart...
Oopsie! My apologies. I keep forgetting that old farts don't count!
> ...b. you're not normal.
I know this is also silly of me but someone being a fanboy of a phone, of all things, doesn't quite smack of "normality" to me, either...
Giggle.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
What do you mean IF PALM GOES BUST? Haven't they?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
1. otter - what is GTD?
2. dukat - what is the ghost headset problem?
3. i think i'd buy a WINMOB device. as far as PIM, it comes the closest to PalmOS IMO and will obviously sync well with Outlook. and for me, PIM is the #1 factor. also, it will play relatively well with Excel/Word.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
not much exciting here -
7 new smartphones for the smart set
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0809/gallery.new_smartphones.fortune/index.html
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
>Oopsie! My apologies. I keep forgetting that old farts don't count!
I know this is also silly of me but someone being a fanboy of a phone, of all things, doesn't quite smack of "normality" to me, either...
Giggle.
come on, you don't even believe in NAV/GPS!
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a PLAM TX to a Newton MP2000!
http://newtonpda.googlepages.com
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
True - it has little but amusement utility for thegenral population for MOST fo the time (not ALL of the time).
BTW, I think pretty much the exact same sort of thoughts about 4-function-calculator capability in a phone.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
It's that frikkin cult. Worse than Moonies, Scientologists, and RepublicanoChristo Palinistas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done
I've never met ANYONE who actually got ANYTHING done using GTD other than PRIORITIZING what they were SUPPOSED to be doing.
Wankers.
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
In the Spirit of Umoja,
Ronin
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
@gekko: look here for the headset problem: http://treotricks.blogspot.com/2006/01/treo-650-audio-jack-fix-part-1.html . Happens on all Treos. Very annoying ...
IIIe -> m505 -> T3 -> Treo650 -> Treo680
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
If my TX died (and couldn't be replaced), I'd use my Zod2. If that died, I'd use my Handera 330c. If that died, I'd be up a creek.
Definitely no Windows Mobile for me.
Nokia's plans for Symbian make it look much more attractive than it used to, but I'd prefer not to go there since I wouldn't plan on "staying" there anyway.
Android isn't ready on a device I want/can get today, otherwise I'd probably go there.
Blackberry is meaningless where I operate, and it has the same issues for me as Symbian (and some others as well).
Nova is not here to even consider.
That leaves me with the iPhone/iPod Touch. That's where I'd probably end up at this point. At least those are already a known quantity and are nice hardware as well. Probably the Touch though; I don't mind separate devices and still find that combination very functional.
"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
nice. do you back up all of your elton john albums on cassette tapes too, just in case?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
RE: What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
between you and cane, there's a lot of ass-play talk on this site. very disturbing.
Did he slip?
Which is it? Devs are actually looking *at* pieces of Nova NOW, or just (in his frikkin imagination!) gazing wistfully towards the Plam Promized Land?
RE: Did he slip?
No Sh*t. That Andy is brilliant.
The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a PLAM TX to a Newton MP2000!
http://newtonpda.googlepages.com
RE: Did he slip?
Just what is going to be 'ready' by end of year with Nova?
Brown said last time that Nova was going to be ready but we weren't going to =see= it by end of year.
I think these (among other weak datapoints like UI-people hiring timepoints) strongly suggest the kernel is what's coming by end of year.
Call Transcript
http://seekingalpha.com/article/96245-palm-f1q09-qtr-end-8-31-08-earnings-call-transcript
RE: Call Transcript
Ed C: Sure. On the Centro, I think the big thing is both maturing in the sense of the existing product was sitting on the marketplace so we have plans to make sure that we refresh those products and are bringing that out and we'll do that in both promotional ways and other ways. And so that's some of our planning that's going into this season and through this quarter.
Translation: We have many, many new Centro colors in the works. And we'll also release a few exciting new Centro cases in several funky fresh color schemes. And of course we will continue to ride the Centro long past it has become a sad also-ran relative to our increasingly fierce competition.
Ed C: We also see additional pricing actions happening from both our competitors and through carrier-focus on some other products that are coming out that certainly gives us pause as to what's going to happen going forward and makes us think hard about exactly what the opportunity and ongoing sell-through of Centro will be and whether we can maintain that consistent momentum.
Translation: We're stunned that people would rather pay $199 for an iPhone than $99 for a Centro. It appears that Centro sales have peaked and not even a slew of new colors can reinvigorate it. That said, we will continue to peddle the Centro as long as there are poor schmucks desperate for one final Palm OS-based device out there to buy it.
Ed C: So we're obviously going to do everything we can to maintain that and work with our carrier partners as aggressively as possible to make sure that we keep the momentum going but we are planning for some impact there.
Translation: We have many new Centro colors in the pipeline and will make sure that various hot colors are distributed equally through our carrier partners. By offering colors a rainbow of various colors to suit their mood, we are hoping customers will begin buying multiple Centros for each day of the week. With enough colors on the market, we can easily trump those bland silver & black smartphones on the market that our competitors are releasing.
Ed C: On the new products, with regard to carriers - well, we're not out showing it around to a bunch of carriers because of, of course, the confidentiality that's related to but we do have some key partners that we have communicated with and I would say that generally the response has been overwhelmingly positive, so we're excited about what we are working on.
Translation: The indifference shown by AT&T to the Treo Pro is just the tip of the iceberg. When the market is cluttered with $99 (or less) smartphones in a few months, no one will want a Centro, much less an overpriced, small-screen GSM Treo, even though the Pro is the best piece of hardware we have produced in years. We also really dropped the ball by choosing to release the hideous 800w instead of a CDMA Treo Pro. Fortunately, our faithful partners Dataviz, Astraware and Normsoft have cooked up some superb versions of DocsToGo, PocketTunes and Solitaire and Bejeweled that run under Nova. They're chomping at the bit to get burned again like they did with the Fooleo last year.
Ed C: And with respect to the next-gen product launches, I think we are just basically giving a window of time. We didn't say Q1 or Q2, we said first-half and that's what we are doing right now. These products are incredibly complex to put together, to design and develop a whole entire platform and the application suite and the hardware and everything else that goes around it, and I think allowing ourselves a little flexibility around that is exactly what we are doing right now. We don't want to over-promise and under-deliver - we want to do the opposite, and so we're just giving a window there that we think makes sense at this time
Translation: Nova has been quietly EOL'd, so please stop bugging us about it until we make the official announcement 6 months from now.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
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What would you buy if Palm goes bust?
Let's say Palm went bust tomorrow - bankrupt - kaput, and the PalmOS died and was not available on/supported by any carrier. what would you buy if you needed a new smartphone? iPhone? Blackberry? some WINMOB device???