New sales numbers from Palm looking pretty bleak
Things are not looking good for Palm if its latest sales report is anything to go by. Could we be seeing the end to this long running brand?
Palm has had a rough go of it the past few years as its old Palm operating system (OS) just couldn’t keep up with the likes of the BlackBerry from Research In Motion and the monster success that is Apple’s iPhone. With the launch of the company’s new webOS last June on the Palm Pre, many pundits saw this as the company’s savior, but it seems that it just isn’t taking off like it was supposed to.
The latest information released today shows that Palm’s projections for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 will be between $285 million and $310 million, which is significantly less than the $425.4 million number that analysts had been predicting. Palm also said that it was doubtful it would meet its target for the year which had ranged from $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion, and that a new projection would be released on an earnings call on March 18.
The culprit seems to be just slower than expected sales across the board, especially the launches of the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus at Verizon. Vendor orders have been slower than expected, and some orders have been deferred to future dates.
“Palm webOS is recognized as a groundbreaking platform that enables one of the best smartphone experiences available today, and our work to evolve the platform and bring industry-leading technology to market continues. However, driving broad consumer adoption of Palm products is taking longer than we anticipated,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer. “Our carrier partners remain committed, and we are working closely with them to increase awareness and drive sales of our differentiated Palm products.”
John Paczkowski of All Things D suggested today that it is time for Palm to start shopping for a buyer, and with webOS failing to gain the momentum it was once hoped it would, he may be right on that.
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Why is it always the best technology and the best product that fails against the best marketer?
- Apple II failed against DOS
- Netscape failed against Explorer
- Now Palm, clearly a superior product, fails against iPhone and Blackberry.
I have been offered, FREE, by my company either an iPhone or a Blackberry, but I preferred to BUY a PRE.
And it is SOOO superior for business than the iPhone and for leisure than the Blackberry.
Unbelievable that this thing would fail!
Life is not fair!