Palm Forced To Cut Jobs As Competition Rises

[OhioChick]

Source: Information Week

The one-time king of the smartphone market has lagged behind Research In Motion and Apple, and it will be cutting an unspecified number of positions.

November 24, 2008 04:55 PM

Palm said it would be cutting jobs due to multiple consecutive quarterly losses and increased competition from Apple and Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM).

The company employs about 1,050 employees but didn't disclose how many workers it would let go.
"Our goal is to consolidate resources behind fewer programs to focus our efforts more effectively," said spokeswoman Lynn Fox.

Palm was once the United States leader in the smartphone market with a dedicated following, but it has failed to keep up with its competitors. Research In Motion is now the dominant smartphone maker in the United States, and much of that comes from taking the enterprise market away from Palm.

In only two years, Apple's iPhone has surpassed Palm in market share. The iPhone has been a hit with casual consumers and enterprise users, and Apple sold 6.9 million units last quarter.

Palm has had a hit with the Palm Centro though, which has sold over 2 million units. The entry-level smartphone has drawn many first-time smartphone customers, but the $99 price means the handset doesn't have that high of a margin for Palm.




Read more: http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212200232

[Deja Q]

1. When they moved to Windows Mobile OS, I knew they were having problems

By then, Palm sucked anyway. Nor in a good way.

I'm sure the iPhone will decline in popularity... and/or Steve Jobs will accuse Americans of being dumbed down...

/irony

[aggiesal]

2. I had a Palm Treo 755p and ...

the RIM Blackberry Curve 8330 on the Sprint Network.

I've only had the Blackberry for a short time, but, based on services the Blackberry
beats the Palm Treo, hands down.

But for use and intuitiveness, the Blackberry has a lot of ground to make up.
The Treo is far superior. Much easier to use, and it functions are easier to learn
and to use. The supplemental SD Card is easier to get at on the Treo. It is a handy
slot on the side of the Treo, while the SD Card on the Blackberry is hidden behind
the battery compartment. The Keyboard is locked automatically based on a setting,
and to clear the lock, doesn't require having to enter some secret password.

If Palm ever makes a Treo unit with Blackberry capabilities, I'd switch back to the
Treo in a second. I never used the Treo with Windows installed.

[ccinamon]

3. I loved my Palm Pilots until

I got a TX100 (I think that's the correct version) about 4 years ago....I had nothing but problems and no satisfaction from Palm....when you start making crappy products you lose your most ardent supporters, and it is all down hill from there.

I bought a first gen iPhone when they came out....there are several things that Palm does better than the iPhone, but constantly having to reboot a PDA (at least once a week) and losing all info (once a month near the end) is not fun, I never felt I could trust a Palm product after the disasterous problems of the TX100.

[ACTION BASTARD]

4. I always wanted a Treo but T-Mobile never went for them so that was that with Treo

But the Blackberry curve...oooooh mama, I love me some crackberry.