It was obvious someone would buy Palm, but I didn’t think Hewlett-Packard was the top contender. HP bought all of Palms stocks for $1.2 billion, and while there are plenty of transition details to work out, HP is definitely is getting the WebOS asset. Whether or not HP will invest to compete against Apple, Google, and Microsoft or simply use the WebOS for its tablets is unsure. We have to give them a few months to get all the details set.
While Palm lost $98 million in this same quarter a year ago, it’s only lost $22 million this quarter. Uh, hooray?
Palm shipped 960,000 smartphones in the period, which represents a 23 percent increase from Q2 2010 and a nearly 300 percent increase compared to this quarter in 2009. However, sell-through wasn’t great, with just 408,000 units changing hands — that’s a 29 percent decline from last quarter and a 15 percent drop year-over-year.
Here’s what Palm had to say:
“Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we’re doing to improve sales is having an impact, we’re making great progress on future products, and we’re looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable – and growing – advantage as we move forward.
We had an arrangement with Sprint that when we launched with Sprint that they would invest in marketing and carry the product and for that they would get an exclusive for a period of time. That really determined when we could do our launch at Verizon. I agree with your premise that if we could have launched at Verizon earlier, prior to Droid, that we would have gotten the attention that the Droid got and since I believe that we have a better product, I think we would have even done better.”
As Palm’s keynote finishes, we can start to understand just what their main goal was: upgrade, upgrade upgrade.
Not only did they announce TWO new phones, but they’ll also be some other… adjustments.
First off, the Pre is getting a makeover. The 2nd generation of the Pre will be available on Verizon and will be sporting a new slider (that reportedly makes the phone feel more snappy and solidly constructed), a new set of keys that are not orange (and possibly a bit more raised), and a new capacity of 16GB capacity. The Pixi didn’t get such a dramatic makeover. It only added itself to Verizon’s lineup with WiFi.
Elsewhere in the Palm universe, they’ve also announced a PDK (plugin developers kit) that’ll show itself in March (and support REAL 3D gaming), so game developers can get their product onto the WebOS. Until then, users will be able to play Need for Speed and the Sims 3 thanks to EA. These games will act just like other apps, so when you see a text message, you’ll still be able to view apps as cards, and the game will only pause. These other games were also added to the catalog today:
Palm also unveiled a “Mobile Hotspot” app, so that you can tether more than one computer to your phone for Verizon 3G connectivity. The app is subject to monthly charges (unless you have unlimited data).
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged EA, Gameloft, Glu, Laminar Research, Mobile Gaming, Palm, Pixi, Pre, SDK, Verizon
We all know that Palm loves to be open and free, considering they think they can use anyone’s software for free.
Palm has unleashed its legal team on the makers of the aptly-named “Palm Pre Android Theme” that borrows icons, wallpapers, and all around feel from the Palm Pre.
Palm is uptight here about graphics copyrights and trademark infringement — and the company is demanding that they cease use of the Pre’s interface, name, etc. Palm comes out and says that it “appreciates that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery,”however, they’re worried about consumers confusing it for the Pre. It’s not like they would think that was an iPhone…
