Palm suffers from PDA downturn

Palm suffers from PDA downturn


Company hopes smartphone products will revive its fortunes

Handhold-device maker Palm has posted quarterly net losses of $840,000 (£412,000) compared with profits of $16.5m (£8.1m) for the same period last year.

The firm is blaming dropping demand for personal digital assistants (PDAs), its core product, and the effect of restructuring costs.

The introduction of new smartphone products will revive the company's fortunes, said Ed Colligan, Palm chief executive officer.

"Two product launches in September demonstrate our commitment to delivering competitive, high-quality solutions and expanding our reach to a broader market and range of customers," he said.

Palm sold 689,000 smartphones during the quarter, up 21 percent compared with last year. Revenues from the division were $302m (£148m), a 12 percent increase over last year.

Revenue for the period was $361m (£177m), up from $356m (£175m) in the same quarter last year.