Palm Updates Stock Guidance Amid Stock Volatility and Slow Sales 106
After several days of crazy stock swings, Palm has issued a press release updating their investor guidance for for Q3 FY2010. In essence, it appears to be an admission that sales are slower than hoped:
[...] revenues for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 will be in the range of $285 million to $310 million on a GAAP basis and in the range of $300 million to $320 million on a non-GAAP basis.1 Revenues for the quarter and full year are being impacted by slower than expected consumer adoption of the company's products that has resulted in lower than expected order volumes from carriers and the deferral of orders to future periods. Accordingly, Palm expects fiscal year 2010 revenues to be well below its previously forecasted range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. The company will provide more detail on its financial results during Palm's third-quarter financial results conference call currently scheduled for Thursday, March 18.
In a quote in the release, CEO Jon Rubinstein added "However, driving broad consumer adoption of Palm products is taking longer than we anticipated. Our carrier partners remain committed, and we are working closely with them to increase awareness and drive sales of our differentiated Palm products." The release closes with Palm debunking a recent rumor that they had little cash on hand, claiming that they expect to end the quarter with cash and cash-equivalents totaling over $500 million.
The release comes a day after the Wall Street Journal reported (subscription required) on an analyst claim that Verizon "was 'evaluating the potential for destocking.'" It appears that article may have been a bit overblown as in the same piece Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney dismissed the report. Reached for comment, Raney told PreCentral "Palm devices are an important part of our portfolio as more and more people enjoy both the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus on the nation's most reliable network."
As we briefly discussed in PalmCast Live on Tuesday (podcast coming soon), in recent weeks it seems as if any errant rumor has the potential to affect Palm's stock lately. We've long held here at PreCentral that Palm's single most important challenge right now is simply selling as many webOS devices as possible to help establish the platform as viable for both users and developers. Given Palm's statement today, that challenge isn't being met yet.
With luck, Palm's recent advertising push will help with that - although we're starting to think Palm is going to need new, high-end hardware to act as a 'halo device' for the platform. What do you think Palm needs to do to juice sales?
106 Comments
agreed... Lets see some better hardware, although it sucks to read these kinds of articles...
MEMO to Thinker,
This is evidence.
A DB analyst "thinking" VZ will sell 600K units by Sunday night is conjecture.
WebOS is great, but it has not yet been embraced and Palm needs a partner.
Sincerely, "Troll"
But I really hope you can spin this to a positive. Are the deckchairs alligned?
Palm needs a partner alright.
If only Rubenstein had recognized that Apple's PARTNERSHIPS are what get them where they are... not functionality or usability or value or anything of the sort.
Apple knows how to pull strings and get others to pull strings for them.
Palm can't seem to do any pulling without some serious chafe.
I agree.......the ONLY thing that will save Palm at this point is better HARDWARE. The Palm Pre needs to have a much larger screen, a much larger keyboard and a more high end design. Once Palm has a better phone it will have no problems getting new customers. The WebOS platform is amazing but the phone hardware is a joke. ESPECIALLY THE KEYBOARD. Basicly what Palm did was spend a lot of money buying a really nice house but can afford to decorate it. They have a great operating system and a horrible phone to carry it. I will be upgrading my phone at the end of the year and I can only say that Palm has until then to get a better phone on the Sprint network or else they will loose me to Android or Windows Phone 7. Obviously they have people running their company who are very old school in their ideas and are not wanting to really push the design of their phones. I would also like to know who told Palm that the Pre and the Pixi where good enough phones to mass produce. The Pixi is the worst phone on the market and the Pre is right behind it because THE KEYBOARDS ARE HORRIBLE.
even tho it is news and it is important that P|C reports Palm news but I am tired of hearing stuff like this...
Stick your fingers in your ears, scream "LA LA LA LA LA" at the top of your lungs and stop coming here.
To "juice sales" they'll need to get this update out and hire a new marketing firm.
I will agree. When a Verizon sales girl said to me... We sell the "Driod" is more "Techy" than Pre, They are not pushing Palm Pre Plus in Verizon Stores... at all. While waiting 45 min. 6 sales people NEVER showed anyone the Palm Pre, not one person!
It's hard to rely on 3rd parties, when they do not know what they are selling in their own stores.
Some blame for slow sales must be placed on carrier distribution/sales force knowledge.
notimeoff
That was the message we got from the Borg queen. The failure there is that I think it solved a problem that nobody knew they had. To show off the multitasking and notifications, like VZ is doing now, makes the device seem much more advanced and powerful.
Regards: new acne scar treatment
I also think new hardware would help with a boost. If they're trying to push Pre/Pixi as the mom phone, they need a touch (but sleek) phone for Dad's. Something in the vein of a Nexus One would be Sa-Weet!
Also, maybe licensing WebOS to manufacturers would help. To compete with Android, it would have to be free or cheaper than what Microsoft is selling Windows Mobile 6.5/7Series to manufacturers for.
I would like to see palm roll out their use of the cloud in a more user specific way....yes the backup feature is nice(when it works) but maybe ,with the purchase of a palm device, they could develop an application for storing user data that we can access....say 25gb that we are able to access on our device when we start to run into storage issues.....if you had choice of a multitude of devices....but one could store and access all of your data at any time....wouldn't you choose palm? The ground work is their for backup.....push out an easy to use user file share interface....perhaps this could change sales and inflict a major positive change??
That was the message we got from the Borg queen. The failure there is that I think it solved a problem that nobody knew they had. To show off the multitasking and notifications, like VZ is doing now, makes the device seem much more advanced and powerful.
For the grandmothers out there;They need a better phone app.For the regular phone users;Maybe a video option.For us hardcore users;Lots of flash and more flash.
Forget any new models or updates. This company needs to be sold - and fast. Shareholders are not going to let them burn through half-a-billion dollars to maintain 6th place market-share. It doesn't matter what Rubinsteins plans are.
Seventh after the Samsung Wave with Bada OS comes out in April.
Definitely need to get updates out as soon as possible; especially when they contain functionality that should have been available at launch (video, voice recording/ dialing). I would also like to see a device with better build quality. Although I have owned my Pre since September 09 and had no problems, it does feel more like a toy than a sturdy handheld device. Looking forward to seeing the next generation WebOS phone hopefully this year.
Been a loyal palm user for almost 5 years now but will admit I've been researching other products. Eyeing the Windows 7 phone but who wants to wait until next holiday season. Palm definately needs better hardware in order to just be in the game. And yes, I too am getting impatient while waiting for web os 1.4. Good luck all!
It doesn't need a new halo device, it needs better international support for the devices it has.
It would be much easier to have positive word of mouth advertising for a device outside the US if the description didn't have to include "a great app catalogue that should someday be available outside the US"
Either Palm should start upping the pressure to get this available in Canada and Europe or just remove it from the system until it is.
Having access to a few demos and minorly useful apps isn't a selling feature.
omg palm stock is now at 6 dollars.. Wtf
What's interesting is that thanks to you, I decided to invest in Palm when they were at $6.60...
NOW THEY'RE ALREADY AT $6.97...
PROFIT!!
And if you think Palm isn't shorting themselves like this... you've gotta be kidding yourselves. I know I would if I knew what the report said before I read it off to Wall St.
Bet ya it makes it back to $8 before the day's over. ;)
Calling my broker..(actually logging in, ;))
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good luck dude. I'm not positive on Palm stock cause i see nothing that is going to make it pop other then maybe a small rebound tommorow but honestly i sold at 15 so i don't have a dog in this fight. but hey good luck. I think you're gonna need some.
What Palm needs to do is unfortunately follow what Google did with Android which is flood the market with different hardware platforms utilizing glorious WebOS. Having 1 or 2 devices with a different OS at this stage of the game is not smart. Iphone dominates the market and Android has made it's presence known by providing a ton of devices to multiple carriers... Palm needs more choices out there as following Apple's model (1 device) sounds nice and focused but
doesn't translate in the current market.
That would require a partner (being acquired). HTC and others wont take a license on an O/S that is still being developed UP TO normal market functionality.
If Nokia and Intel could license or obtain WebOS to become MeeGo, that would be incredible.
If RIM could acquire Palm and have them develop the next generation BB O/S, that would work.
Dell is moving on without partners so far.
I doubt HP is ready to step into the ugly competitive world of mobile phones now that consolidation is so close at hand.
Sanyo wanna play?
#6 or #7 just wont cut it with no cash war chest to rely on.
So is Android turning a profit? I doubt that. Android is given away for free, and if you're just making a few cents per user through advertising, their 7 million users are just a drop in the bucket. Palm could use wider distribution, but the way to get it would be going with a strong partner. My favourite would be Sony (with or without Ericsson).
How much, per unit, do you think Palm could charge for WebOS given that Android is free? Is WebOS that much more exciting? Do they have bigger name recognition or a big app catalog? What does WebOS have to offer HTC or Sony that Android can't offer for free?
Android is selling apps.
Android is an advertising channel. Android is Google, and more than anything, Google is a modern day advertiser.
You think you see a search engine or a map, but you're also seeing ads.
Android does not have to turn a profit. Google profits through advertising on any and everything, mobile, email, search, maps, shopping, google docs, etc, Google's an advertising company. It's not really a Cell phone company. you can call it a few cents but those few cents add up. they had $1.9 billion in net profit last quarter and that was with revenue being down. $1.9 billion!!! And every free android os with google mail, navigation, docs, maps, is another person plugging into google services, to click on a link that they can give a perscentage of or that get's a search tracked that they can use to gather stats and sell to walmart or target or macys or whomever. Bottom line is Android doesn't have to be profitable any time soon if it ever.
Marketing is improving, OS is improving, I think NOW is the time for better hardware, whatever they come with should feel SOLID and not as fragile and cheap as the PRE, I love my pre but I have to admit that if feels like cheap plastic in my hand and I know many people that hate their PRE because of two things 1.Slow OS and most importantly, 2.Bad Hardware quality control (damaged keyboards, damaged 8mm headphone jacks,damaged touchscreens, etc) and Palm should remember from Sprint, dissapointed costumers are HARD to get back once they move on to another platform/carrier(sprint case) no matter how great they make it on the second try.
is it just me or is palm going out of business by the end of february, haha, hey I'm a consumer I don't care I'll just move on to the next best thing but this is redicilous. Palm needs to fire alot of their people to be back in the game. Their marketing sucks and they built quality departments needs to be fired entirelly. They really need to anounce a new product sooon and I mean soon like within a month to be back in the game.
Without new hardware the OS will never succeed in mass adoption.
People love "teh shiny"
Without better performance the OS will never succeed in mass adoption.
People love "teh snappy"
That's really all there is too it kids. Sure the apps help, but without a solid foundation, they don't matter all that much.
I haven't bailed on the device/OS yet. But Windows Phone 7 looks juicy. They have until the fall to convince me why I shouldn't switch. And being a software consultant in the .Net world, Microsoft puts the food on my table, so Palm will need to impress. The mobile dev tools I'll have in a few months for Windows Phone 7 will make the Palm stuff look like a Fisher Price toy.
Palm needs a serious launch for an upgraded device. Not because the device needs upgraded, but they need the pub. I will be first in line for a "Pre 2" on Sprint 6/6/10.
I love my phone, my family is now a 3 Pre family and I will use it till Palm succumbs to bad sales and goes belly-up. It is clearly the best OS no one is using.
I can't believe people don't think the stock price matters. If we have confidence in the company and not others, we'll never get that update.
Why should PALM worry about an update for us when it may not be able to keep the lights on or just start selling webOS to every Tom Dick and Harry?
The software is off the charts and I am a first time PALM user being converted from MAC for everything else. The design needs work but C'MON PALM!!!!
I started to believe in you and now your acting like bad syrup on dry pancakes!!!
I feel like they're totally missing the boat on the accessory side. Having a Touchstone included in the box would go a long way toward differentiating the device. It would give new owners more wow factor on day one as well as something they'd want to show off to their friends. And it would give sales people something obvious and tangible they can show off in the store. Then, if they would roll out a line of speaker docs, alarm clocks, dashboard mounts, etc that are all Touchstone based, it would go a long way toward ensuring that once people buy a Palm device, they keep buying Palm devices.
I really like this suggestion. It might add a bit to the price of the phone up front, but adds way more to the value of the package as a whole while paving the way for accessory sales down the road. Once you give people that "taste" of the Touchstone line, most will crave more as a result. Kinda like Lay's "you can't eat just one" bit. Palm might lose a percentage point or two in net profit per phone sale to keep the intro price reasonable, but what they would gain in sales of other Touchstone products would more than make up for it.
The only problem I see with this is the lack of new Touchstone accessories available & how soon they would become available. Adding to their Touchstone line, as well as an upgraded handset would do a lot to get & keep Palm products visible.
I love my Pre. I think Palm truly has a diamond in the rough with WebOS & the Touchstone products potential. They just need the time to carve out a sustainable & profitable niche in the market. While the news hasn't been all sunshine & roses this month for Palm, they've had a remarkable ability of keeping their head above water & I believe that they will manage to hang on long enough to accomplish a true recovery.
What Palm needs to do is unfortunately follow what Google did with Android which is flood the market with different hardware platforms utilizing glorious WebOS. Having 1 or 2 devices with a different OS at this stage of the game is not smart. Iphone dominates the market and Android has made it's presence known by providing a ton of devices to multiple carriers... Palm needs more choices out there as following Apple's model (1 device) sounds nice and focused but
doesn't translate in the current market.
i think they def need high end hardware, 1.5ghz processor+ and 1gb+ ram on next device, i know it sounds out there but hey, you have to be one step ahead of competition
+1,
They need something major hardwere wise to be noticed. Big screens and fast procesors is what gets companies free advertising cause its mentioned everywhere.
+1
I agree, playing catch up is simply not good enough. They should start shooting a step forward on the iPhone and WinMo7 so that they look like catching up instead
+1 No more catch-up! They need to be 2 steps ahead of the competition because inevitably there will be some new device (Apple or otherwise) that comes out the day before/after Palm's new device that already puts it as yesterday's news. They need to shoot for 64gb, more RAM, hopefully bigger screen... I kind of hope that Nokia or someone else just buys Palm so we aren't all left with an update-less phone for the next year or so...
What Palm needs to do is unfortunately follow what Google did with Android which is flood the market with different hardware platforms utilizing glorious WebOS. Having 1 or 2 devices with a different OS at this stage of the game is not smart. Iphone dominates the market and Android has made it's presence known by providing a ton of devices to multiple carriers... Palm needs more choices out there as following Apple's model (1 device) sounds nice and focused but
doesn't translate in the current market.
Can you post that one more time please.
Palm should just licence WebOS, so that it would give them the opertunity to flood the market.
If palm starts the RIM model with coming out with 4 million devices, it makes it that much harder to write updates for the WebOS. What they ened to do is push marketing much farther than they have. With the launch of the Pre/Pixi Plus' on VZW, they had not one banner in any window of any VZW store I saw (Philly area). None. In fact, i was the only one who bought a palm phone on launch day at the VZW Corp store and that was around 2pm.
I saw people looking at the phones, but nobody seemed to care, nor did the sales people care. they only pushed the droid.
Palm needs to get this 1.4 update out so they can show they don't lie to the public and prove to people they can write and maintain an OS.
New hardware yes, but definitely not what RIM or Google is doing with 4 bujillion devices to maintain. plus their hardware is pretty crappy compared to let's say the Tour or the iphone, or the droid in physical stability. i'm on my 3rd pre, and i just sent it to the palm shop in Pharr Texas??? to get repaired because of the horrible double typing keyboard problem.
Get 1.4 out, push to get flash out before anyone else! push adobe! come one palm
1% of their customers care, or even know about 1.4, and they already own the phone.
They need to more than double their sales yesterday, and I don't see that happening. In recent weeks, a lot of things were done right, but, not impactful enough. They need cash, they should be marketing to potential acquirers, not end users. WebOS is good, Palm just is not big enough to grow in this competition.
MAN WHEN IS THE UPDATE COMING OUT I THOUGHT IT WAS TODAY I'm TIRED OF WAITING!!!!!!
So what are you going to do about it?
I don't think palm is gonna make it.. Sadly I can't imagine using another os but If anything happens I hope rimm would buy palm a bold with webos and touchscreen is gonna be amazing
I don't think palm is gonna make it.. Sadly I can't imagine using another os but If anything happens I hope rimm would buy palm a bold with webos and touchscreen is gonna be amazing
In the next 2-3 months:
-Make Pre Plus with 16 GB and Pixi Plus with wifi available also outside USA!
-Make App catalog for paid apps available also outside USA!
-Sell webOS devices in more countries! I still can't buy one in my country!
-Better advertisement
For new devices:
-3.5" 640*480 screen
-1400 mAh battery
-MicroSD slot
-Snappier UI
-Better keyboard
-Better construction quality
Palm has the best OS for smartphone! Hang in there!
>-3.5" 640*480 screen
not big enough (resolution wise)
I know the FONT SIZE on a phone with those specs won't be big enough for anybody.... much less an even *greater* resolution.
Do you realize what resolution the 10" iPad screen has?!?
I really believe that Palm's biggest mistake was partnering with Sprint rather than one of the biggies.
When I first heard the Apple iPad rumors, the first thing that came to my mind was how cool it would be to have a similar device running webOS.
WebOS seems to be, at least in the reviews I read, coming along just fine. Analysts and others recognize the possibilities of the platform. Palm needs a high end, high quality mobile device, and they need that device to not compete with the iPhone. The device needs to do what Palm used to be good at, and what Blackberry is now the best at, and that's email, contact management, and document handling. If they can do that, along with superior social media functions, they'll take market share from BB and Apple.
The one to watch out for though, is Android. It amazes me how far they've come in such a short period of time.
Anyway, I digress. Palm stock is down 16% on todays opening. If you believe the takeover rumors, it might be a great time to buy... (I'm an ex stockbroker)
>Analysts and others recognize the possibilities of the platform.
if you always read about the good potential of webOS, it only means, that actually it sucks, but it maybe a good OS or device in the future
Sprint supported Pre as a product champion. ATT and VZ would not have done that. And to date, Sprint has been the silver lining in the dark Palm cloud. Don't blame the hero for the deficiencies everywhere else.
You're incorrect. AT&T would have if Palm hadn't waited to go head-to-head with Apple.
Palm never gained traction because of that moronic decision. I'm quite sure that Sprint didn't spend any more on Palm ads than they did on Blackberry. Sprint was a bad choice only because they have a poor public image. Their customer service issues of the past are enough to keep people from considering the Palm devices.
It's like considering buying a Bentley and finding out your local GM dealer's going to be doing all the maintenance on it. The GM tech's could be the worlds best, but it's the perception that the service is going to be terrible.
they also need to have the carriers crack down on sales reps badmouthing palm products.
I don't want a f-ing blackberry or hero. And lets be honest you've never even used the device for any length of time and your demo is two updates behind. So shut it!
ya but there is not much time for palm, if the stock drops any lower, they are pretty much done. Does anyone know if palm is presenting at CTIA at all. I guess in my opinion their last hope would be to anounce a new flagship device at that time, otherwise its to late for them. I know webos is great but in the US, majority of WebOS users are on sprint and if the Nexus One and Supersonic are realeased, I can guaranty that most of the users will go to those devices.
I've said it before, I'll say it again...
Palm WebOS + Virtual Keyboard + HTC (preferably N1 hardware) = winner.
+1
They need to market the phone like the damn iphone. Just show what the OS can do. It will speak for itself. Part of Palm's problem is that in came into the market without video, voice dialing, visual voicemail, 3d maps etc. when they are tons of devices that do have. This is why I bought 2 hero(s) recently. I took them back because I couldn't navigate nearly as fast as my Pre among other things.
Palm would be in much better shape if they had announced the Pre closer to when it was released. After the introduction of the Pre at CES 2009, there was such a buzz of excitement. By June when the phone was released, most people had already moved their focus to the new iphone 3Gs and other new phones coming out. At that point, a lot of that initial excitement was lost. To make matters worse, there was very little fanfare at the time of the release. Compare that to the iphone, where you couldn't watch tv for 15 minutes without seeing another commercial touting the great things it could do.
Palm also made a mistake in tying the Pre exclusively to Sprint for so long. Not only is Sprint hemorrhaging subscribers and money, but they marketed the phone very poorly. Instead of spending time showing what an amazing phone the Pre is, their emphasis was on their Now Network. C'mon, Flavor Flav was relevant back when Public Enemy was relevant, but now he's just a low tier celebrity. He certainly isn't going to make anyone decide to subscribe to Sprint. The mainstream marketing showed very little about all of the things a Pre could do.
At this point I think Palm needs to come up with new hardware. The Pre and Pixi are fine except they will never garner enough buzz to cause the type of sales that Palm needs. They need to get more carriers, and the carriers need to really market it.
The problem is that people are bias with the iphone and now are gettiing to know android, they need to really show off webOs potential iin commerciials and stuff like so people can recognize their products. I wish that whenever I pull out my pre out of my pocket peopple will recognize it.Go Palm go, go, go palm
Why do I keep reading these comments. I am so sick of Palm should this, Palm should this. Everyone thinks they know what would be better for Palm.
I think its harder for smaller companies to compete these days no matter what they do. You have to pander to the lowest common denominator to sell a ton of devices even if they are nothing spectacular.
Its an uphill battle going against Apple and Google, so its not like they are going to sell more than either of those.
If they can just exist in a niche market and keep improving WebOS I will be happy. I prefer a well designed device than something super powerful, clunky, with a completely unremarkable GUI.
Higher end hardware is not the answer. That appeals to our little niche, but there's no evidence that the mass market really cares about that. In fact, to the contrary, the best selling consumer electronics rarely have the most advanced hardware in them. See Archos v. iPod. See TiVo v. The-cable-company-DVR.
That's not to say I wouldn't love to use WebOS on a killer new handset. I would, but that's not the question here. The question is what can they do drive more sales.
If Palm wants to sell more devices, they need to show people simple, end to end ways to integrate their devices into their daily lives.
The masses do not know what they want. Show them an amazing device and they will flock.
Of course, you do have to show it to them, something Palm did not do when the Pre was cutting edge last Summer.
I have to agree with a lot of people on a few things:
1. webOS is the slickest, nicest, best OS out there. I've used my friends' Blackberry Storm (sucks), iPhone (cool, but the OS doesn't look as polished as webOS) and was using my friends Droid last night. I hate the Droid's keyboard and the OS looks unfinished. The icons and status icons look older.
2. The Pre build quality needs improvement. Does anyone know what company is actually manufacturing them? My wife's Pixi is great though. Lightweight, but feels solid and types great.
3. Palm should NOT have too many devices. One more phone at the most at this point. We already have an issue with Pre apps not working on the Pixi yet. Too many devices = hard to update. Personally, I have no clue what the difference is among all the different Blackberry's out there. And their ads don't say anything about the phone.
4. Licensing webOS to HTC might be an option.
5. They need to get Verizon to train their employees better and push it more in the stores. I knew more about the phones and accessories than the sales girl - she thought the Pixi back worked with the touchstone. I saw a sales guy showing a family some cheap feature phones and I overheard the daughter saying she wanted a smartphone. What a chance to get the family onto Palm!! Show them the Pre and Pixi and the BOGO! He never even showed them anything else.
6. Droid is being pushed hard by Verizon. Palm needs to get them to do that to the Pre and Pixi.
webOS is great. The Pre is a great form factor and looks great. It just needs some quality updates for the build. The Pixi is very cool too. Palm just needs to get the word out more. The new Verizon commercials are better, but more needs to be done in the Verizon stores.
Agree with most of your points.
Palm pre plus build is already better than Pre. Some of those hard edges are gone. Keyboard is a bit better and I can type pretty fast with it. Otherwise design is great.
If palm has trouble maintaining quality on 2-3 models, then it certainly can't handle 5-7 models. The hardware specs are fine IF the webos is optimized and snappier. The average user doesn't care about the speed of CPU, they just want fast response. The memory the Pre plus has is fine. I just installed epocrates, 30 mp3s and handful of apps and still have 14.7 gb left. Whether expandable memory (microsd, etc) is important depends on how well the os uses it.
Licensing is a bit dangerous. You can lose control and palm already had that experience with sony where at one point, sony was outproducing and outinnovating Palm's pdas. Palm doesn't want to lose control esp of its prize the webos.
I agree verizon is pushing droid. But I hate the droid form factor. I'm not sure if that's a corporate thing or they got trained more for the android devices.
The serious apps are just starting to come in now. That has limited the desirability of the webos. Some legacy palm users were holding off until they saw their favorite apps and some vertical professional apps are just coming out like epocrates 2 days ago. (really a big event for the medical community)
I have hope Palm will rebound. The verizon launch is only 1 month and ATT is around the corner and europe which has been limping around will be up to speed next month.
agreed... Lets see some better hardware, although it sucks to read these kinds of articles...
Current Pre users should become more visible in Sprint and Verizon stores. If Verizon agents aren't familiar enough with the product, perhaps a current user could promote the sale better. The stores should hold in-house seminars like Apple does. Sprint tried briefly when the Pre was first introduced.
sometimes the readers of this site just sound so sheepish. Have you guys ever tried just being happy that you have the sweet phone that you have, and that the maker of the phone/OS is rolling out updates consistently. The hardware is what it is, and updates will come, the latest builds of the phone are much more solid, but don't hate because you are an early adoptor, just bask in the sweetness of webOS and enjoy the ride. It is going to be a long and adventurous one. My friend who bailed on the Pre for a Hero has major regrets and already is planning on upgrading back to Palm when the next Pre comes to Sprint. I suspect that will be the case with others, it just takes time for the sheep to realize the value of webOS and Palm's devices.
Sad. Best OS, just so many things the phone can't do I guess because of APIs/ or apps missing.... I'll hang in there. I'm not into wasting money so if Palm fails, then i'll start looking @ iphone vs android.
Palm needs a new strategy to market webOS since the current one is not working. Celebrities holding the Palm Pre at parties is not doing anything nor freaky commercials.
By the look of things, Android's current strategy of releasing new phones every couple of weeks will bring its own demise. Take 2 Android phones and they don't have the same version. In the future, there will be a lot of compatibility issues. And Google support hasn't been the best either.
webOS is better than Android. It's more user friendly, has better support, the hardware is made with and for the software. The only thing Android has in its favor is that it is Google's. webOS only needs better hardware.
Why doesn't Palm host comparisons between Android and webOS? If people had the opportunity to test them side by side, they would choose webOS because geeks are not the only ones who use smartphones. webOS is for the average user who doesn't want to go with AT&T and get an iPhone.
Delaying the release of the SDK and now the PDK have been obviously huge mistakes. An Android phone can't run something like Need for Speed. webOS needs more games and apps with better graphics ASAP, and more apps overall.
I've used Android phones and I just don't get them. Too many background processes running that drain the battery quickly that most people won't know how to stop. Otherwise, there's no point in competing with iPhone and Blackberry.
I have huge faith in webOS and Palm, and I love my phone.
sometimes the readers of this site just sound so sheepish. Have you guys ever tried just being happy that you have the sweet phone that you have, and that the maker of the phone/OS is rolling out updates consistently. The hardware is what it is, and updates will come, the latest builds of the phone are much more solid, but don't hate because you are an early adoptor, just bask in the sweetness of webOS and enjoy the ride. It is going to be a long and adventurous one. My friend who bailed on the Pre for a Hero has major regrets and already is planning on upgrading back to Palm when the next Pre comes to Sprint. I suspect that will be the case with others, it just takes time for the sheep to realize the value of webOS and Palm's devices.
Well, it's been a good run Palm, but the steam is running out.
Your SDK still sucks, you can't get any decent apps on the device.
Your hardware sucks, it's leagues beneath the other flagship phones from the competitors.
Your OS is one of the best I've ever used, but it's still too laggy compared to iPhone.
I've enjoyed you while i've used you, but it appears I'm going be forced back to Android once I'm upgrade eligible.
I agree, I'll be switching as soon as a bigger screen Android is available throught sprint, hoping for the HTC Supersonic.
They really need to work on their (Palms) marketing. The commercials I've see, makes the phone look stupid (and I've only seen 2). Come on Palm, what's taking so long for you to do something? Why wait for sales, just work it!
As a college student, I see hundreds of iPhone/iTouch every day, and it is a rarity to spot a Pre on campus. I have been frustrated with my Pre a lot over the past 8 months, and I've advised people thinking about the Pre to wait for a new hardware version. There have been several times when I thought if I still had my Centro, I would be able to do something useful - like record a professor's lecture, take a video of a trophy presentation at a basketball game, launch an app without having to reset the phone first, etc. So some thoughts where Palm went wrong, and only a major hardware and software update can help:
1. Sprint. Has the image of being a bargain, unreliable, middle-age business people company with dorky but productive phones that would have been cutting edge in about ... 2002. Like the Centro. Palm could and should have made that device and moved on to the Pre a long time ago.
2. Marketing. Whom is this phone for? With a Sprint launch, it automatically falls in the category in 1. The fact of the matter, however, is that successful phone companies have marketed directly at high school-college age students with hot new technology and forced the established mobile business market group from the early 90s to adapt. Palm's marketing has been so bad for college age group that a lot of people I see are unaware what a Pre even is.
3. Got in the game too late. The Pre probably is as good as the first generation iPhone (a lot of people say iPhone took 3 years to get features we want on Pre). But, you know what, iPhone features are now par for the course. Palm made a conscious decision to come out shooting bogeys on the front 9 and pray for some eagles on the back. That was a very bad decision. No video recording, right after the iPhone got it, was stupid.
4. Gradual updates. We live in an extremely impatient society. Precentral people get excited over gradual improvements, but most consumers do not. Buy a phone with less features than everything else comparably priced, and maybe in a few months you will get it in an update. Terrible strategy.
5. Pixi. Is useless. It lacks features that would make it equal to a Centro, so it doesn't even fill that market niche. Which is too bad, because the form factor is still really popular (I see jillions of Centros, Pearls, and other Blackberries). Launching what is basically a bottom of the line device that is so closely priced to the Pre was moronic.
Palm is gradually working on these things, and I hope there is a major hardware announcement over the summer. WebOS is still young and a major overhaul feature-wise can propel a new device into the mix as a serious phone. I have always liked Palm (used an m100 for word processing as a kid), so I hope they come around. But, despite how much nerdy people on here like webOS and its future, Palm is not built for success. When you enter the game 20 points down, you can't keep shooting lay ups. Palm needs to nail a couple big 3 pointers soon.
It seems to me as though the carrier subsidy agreement process is being broken. Unless word of mouth and hardware issues are impacting sales on Verizon, I'm seeing many reports of Verizon doing next to nothing to sell Palm devices, pushing Android instead. Carriers should be accountable for achieving minimum sales, and from all appearances Verizon has effectively shelved WebOS devices to await a slow death.
My Pre is great, but it needs work. Palm should find out what its users loved the most in their older devices and make sure those options are available in their current devices:
Voice Memos
Voice commands / dialing
Backup over wifi or USB
Faster UI
Better hardware access for developers so they can develop more robust apps, such as security apps
Visual Voicemail
Better Battery life (if possible)
For future phones:
Larger Screen
Voice Memo Button
Voice Command/Dialing Button
Camera Button
More Ram / Storage
High Capacity Battery
MicroSD slot
roam was not built in a day
Neither was Rome
roam was not built in a day
Assuming that Elevation Partners hasn't sold off a lot of shares, this means that Palm is actually below what most people have estimated their investment in the company is which is around $7 per share.
It's funny that Palm is having this trouble with marketing and selling the Pre and Pixi. Look what they did with the Centro. They sold millions (I think it was about 2.5 mil) of Centro's by marketing it to young people. They made it out to be cool. It had an OS that was ancient, but it was inexpensive and easy to use.
The Pre and Pixi have a great OS, easy to use, and have some great apps already. If you market them to young people as having the ability to listen to their music, watch their YouTube videos, text message, surf the web, be on Facebook, all AT THE SAME TIME, showing off the cards/multi-tasking, I'm betting you can sell more. Plus, there are some cool games for it. It has to be marketed as a COOL device to get young people on board.
Outside of video capture, the Pre does everything I need it to do - I teach, write for a magazine, and am a paramedic. The Pre is great for me. People I show it to love it, but they've never heard of it before. That's a problem.
Happy Chinese New Year
I do agree with the Halo Device Statement this is what i would like.... ARM cortex 9 processor integrated graphics for internals. For the externals make it brushed aluminum and build a glass display into it i know there into the whole sexy river stone thing but they can still do that. just make it flush to the brushed aluminum. Keep the touchstone option as its amazing. make it a 3.5-3.7 inch screen. the glass will make everything more responsive and look amazing plus the added strength. IDK anyone got anyother things i missed or dont like? feel free to critique
The only thing your halo device is missing is a viable company to make, sell, and back it.
Palm is fine. They thought of webos. They did what no one else was able to do even APPLE. Active multitasking is amazing and noone touches it. Push notifications are a joke and suck more then they are good. Android is ok but not where webos is. I give palm six months and theyll be doing better. Ive owned alot of phones and the pre is the only one ive gone back too. Im not a fanboy im just speaking from life experience.
cant these people just wait for new hardware? I really want to see what palm has cooking up, and I'm hoping for it to come to at&t. I still want WebOS, please don't fail = [
Palm will resurect in 3 days.
Build Quality (TM) that is the issue. Like I said a few months back, EPIC failure... EPIC.
Somebody, anybody, please agree with palmparcha. If someone validates him, he may go away!
Build Quality (TM) ;-)
All this talk of an update to webOS today. I frankly don't remember an update coming out mid-week. I'd think this Sunday would be more logical do to server workloads.
I don't think we need to start working on a eulogy for Palm as yet. With $500 million in cash reserves, I think Palm is going to be fine. Admittedly, I cringed this morning when I looked at the tv and saw the ticker show Palm at $6.85. I saw this as an opportunity to buy more shares and did. I fully expect the shares to be over $9 again by the first day of spring. WebOS is too good to fail (even if it reaches puberty on Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft or Dell). Hopefully, Verizon's half-hearted effort to move the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus out of their stores is because it's awaiting the enhancements that 1.4 will bring. This is why Palm cannot afford to panic and put out 1.4 while it's not ready and we Pre and Pixi owners clamor for it. People wonder why Palm started with Sprint. This is it: Sprint has always been the top seller for Palm phones. Does Verizon have an exclusive for the Palm Pre Plus?
You're right. Many of us don't remember a little company several years ago that was floundering around, without direction. At one time it had been a real player in it's niche, just like Palm.
It's name was Apple.
re: Verizon employees not pushing Palm devices... It's my understanding that most of these folks are on commission. If Palm and/or Verizon would incent their employees with additional spiffs and higher commissions, you'd see Palm devices flying off the shelves.
Well at least we have real proof now. From the Palm's mouth not analysts for those that think analysts were fabricating lies. Palm actually saying "lower than expected order volumes from carriers and the deferral of orders." Not good news at all. I mean one month the value of Palm has been nearly cut in half. this will be 2 quarters with revenue going the wrong direction i think. Any way you want to slice it. That's bad news. Palm needs to bring something new to the table cause the status quo isn't good enough.
Its been said plenty already but Palm really needs to develop a flagship device and also flood the market with a variety of Webos phones to give consumers more options to choose from. And some commercials that spark consumer interest groups other than moms wouldn't hurt either lol.
Right now Palm is like the guy playing Monopoly who only owns like 2 crappy properties and is barely keeping his head above water paying off hotel stays on everybody else's properties.
Hopefully Palm can land on Free Parking and collect the jackpot.
the feb 23 stock thread reads quite humorously now in a morbid sort of way.
To quote Yogi Berra: "deja vu all over again". Palm seems to be in the same situation that it was before it split in two (hardware and software companies). Given the choice, Palm needs to direct all resources toward software engineering. Find a device designer and manufacturer (HTC?) who can build to its general requirements. Otherwise, webOS will be marginalized due to lack of resources.
Frankly, Palm now faces a crisis of confidence. Not from its loyal users, including me, but from the investment community, particularly the hedge funds. If Palm insists upon remaining in both the hardware and software businesses, the company must go private to take the focus off short term financials. BlackRock already has a big stake. Maybe an LBO is in the offing. It is almost impossible to effectively be in startup mode as a publicly traded entity.
they need a quick turn around, without it the company needs a buy out or its going the same route as the titanic
Right now webos has a very large advantage over all other smart phones in the gaming that it offers; all except the iphone of course, but the way the pre plus can play multiple games at once and multitask 50 other things at once is far beyond the capability of the iphone. What Palm needs is to spread the word about 3D games! Webos may be behind in the business features it offers, but while that catches up, Palm should be drawing in the consumer market with screenshots and gameplay of 3D games.
Is Palm CEO reading this.
Yes Palm marketing team has to be responsible for the poor sale and the HEAD of the busniness developement unit need to be repalced. I just could not help it but to agree whole heartedly that the June 2009 commercial ad did not meet the objective. Many of my friends who saw it over the Youtube and have no idea what Palm pre can do. It was just like another Mobile Phone.
Google phone and iPhone are made available in many parts of the world immediately and within a year rspectively. Why not Palm? Can't the Palm Pre be sold in Asia Pacific countries especially in China,India. As many people have pointed it clearly, this is one sure way to drive up the sale of Palm Pre. China is a big market, where everyone is going there for business and leisure. Lastly(customised), come out with some FREE must have application for the China consumers example a Chinese-English translation software with voice feature. Why? Because many ten thousands of Chinese want to improve our English language proficiency and having a mobile phone that acts as a walking and talking dictionary is cool and eventually become essential. Promote it to the Chinese civil servants and educational instititions and very soon Palm will have a great piece of pie in China Smartphone Market or in Asia Pacific countries. Am I being naive??
Expand quickly to Asia Pacific and Europe(rather than just concentrate in US market, too many strong palyers) will for sure increase your Palm Sale.
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