Palm’s “Pre Plus” and “Pixi Plus” smartphones will start selling through AT&T (joining Verizon and Sprint), but will that be enough to help Palm out of the doldrums?
Palm’s Pre and Pixi were part of a major effort to revamp Palm’s smartphone OS and create a unique phone platform. Palm’s effort succeeded in that it phones allow multiple apps to run simultaneously; but sales seem to be falling short. Palm’s stock fell nearly 30 percent on Friday after the company announced its quarterly results, which revealed that Palm sold through only 40 percent of the 960,000 phones it shipped in the quarter ending February 28, said The http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/business/22views.html“>New York Times.
“Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and CEO last week in a financial release.
The Times speculates Palm could license its software, or sell itself to another smartphone company with deeper pockets.
Palm, however, continues to gain backing from mobile carriers with AT&T preparing to carry its smartphones “in the coming months,” on its network with 80 million subscribers. The phone will carry prices of $149.99 for the Pre Plus and $49.99 for the Pixi Plus with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. See more details on phones here.
Source: Palm and The New York Times
Photo: Palm Pre Plus
