“Analysts have said they believe demand for Palm’s new star handset, the Pre, is dying down after a highly anticipated launch in June. Palm, which cut the price of the Pre by $50 recently, continues to keep its sales figures under wraps,” Paul reports. “‘The anticipated slowdown in Pre sales appears to be occurring, one quarter later than many had anticipated,’ said CL King analyst Lawrence Harris.”
Paul reports, “Any lost momentum by Palm comes at a critical time, just ahead of the holiday shopping season, when the Pre and Pixi — Palm’s next device based on its webOS platform — take on popular handsets from Apple Inc, Research in Motion, and Motorola Inc.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yeah, Motorola. Give us a break.
Paul continues, “Analysts warned that Palm’s uphill fight may further stall any shot at profitability, particularly after the Pre price cut. BMO Capital analyst Tim Long [said], ‘Sprint said … (the price cut) came from Palm, which we view as a sign that maintaining average selling prices and gross margins may also be difficult.'”
“BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has also faced analyst and investor questions about whether it can keep up its torrid pace of growth despite the recession,” Paul reports. “The Waterloo, Ontario-based company is due to report quarterly results on September 24.”
Full article here.
Wow, Palm facing tough times ahead. We’re all in shock, thanks for the tip.
Palm execs are mortgaged the company just to get the Palm Pre out the door. You’re telling me this is the milk & honey quarter and that rough times are still “ahead”??
Oh crap!
All of you Apple fanboys will wish you had never heard of the Pre………… did I mention that it does multitasking and you can watch SprintTV for a whole 30 minutes before draining the battery?
@MacTony
Yeah, and a plastic screen, and no virtual keyboard, and almost 100 apps !!!
from Tony or Fred?
‘App Lack” App Lack”
Multitask?!? What a joke. Tell me, can you answer the phone while multitasking? No? Didn’t think so. How’s them apples?
The Pre has already “taken on” the iPhone and BB. And lost. So badly that they aren’t even giving sales numbers. I predicted they wouldn’t last the summer, and I guess it’s still technically summer, but no way they last the year. Not with the crap they’ve been depending on to save them.
iPhone does “multi-tasking” very well. I can be listening to music, then take a call, look up an email, find up a phone number, send an email, surf with the web browser, all while still on the call. And when I end the call, the music I was listening to comes back automatically. This capability is not something new; it was demonstrated six months before the first iPhone’s release.
iPhone multi-tasks where it matters most. Apple intentionally limits multi-tasking in general to conserve battery power, to improve user experience. In that sense, it is more sophisticated than the Pre, because Apple cares most of all, about the user’s experience. Once the technology allows unrestricted multi-tasking on iPhone without negative impact to user experience, all Apple has to do is flip a switch. The software technology is already in place.
People who “brag” about the Pre’s “multi-tasking” as an actual advantage over iPhone’s intentional design are ignorant (or desperate).
@ken1w,
The multi-tasking complainers are starting to sound like the “Apple uses proprietary technology” complainers.
The iPhone’s visual voicemai. Needs to multitask. The voicemails we receive are filled with important info like phone numbers, addresses, flight numbers, calendar dates, and other important info. But as soon as you switch away to another app to start taking notes on what the person is saying on your voicemail, the voicemail stops playing.
MacTony was obviously kidding–we can tell from the “SprintTV for 30 minutes without draining the battery” bit… And, of course, the battery will last at least _35_ minutes…
As a phone… not so great, As a PDA, not so great, too. As an app platform… uh, well, not so great there, too, but hey! It multitasks! And can cut cheese!
And it’s from Palm, so you know support will be there in five or six months, when you need it most…!
Oh, wait…
So long Palm, I never owned one of your gadgets and I F*&KING;hate Sprint.
One of my best friends, who’s been with Sprint since 1999 just ditched Sprint to get a 32GB iPhone on ATT.
iPhone will rule the world!