RIM’s Financials Rock the House; Palm’s Not So Much
Smartphone makers Research in Motion (RIM) and Palm both shared quarterly financial results today, with a very different picture emerging of each companies’ performance. RIM is continuing to ride the consumer BlackBerry train, reporting quarterly profit of $628.4 million, or $1.10 per share. This compared favorably with $475.6 million, or $0.83 per share in the previous quarter.
RIM attributes the strong performance to shipping over 10 million smartphones during the quarter. The company picked up 4.4 million new subscribers during the quarter.
Palm had to settle with painting a less bad picture with its quarterly financial results. The company reported a net loss of $85.4 million for the quarter, or $0.54 per share, down from $508.6 million or $(4.64) per diluted common share in the previous quarter. The large loss of the previous quarter included a non-cash charge of $396.7 million pertaining to U. S. tax assets. When the charge is removed, Palm’s loss in the previous quarter was $110.9 million.
Palm shipped 783,000 smartphones, while 573,000 were sell-through units. The units sold was a 29 percent decrease in unit sales for the previous quarter.
The numbers show Palm’s position is better than it was, but the company is hardly out of the woods. Let’s hope the hole in the dyke is the size a Pixi smartphone can plug next quarter.
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wow, nice job for Palm. this means there is a possible 1.9m Pre’s out there (1.5 – 1.7m more likely). considering their decision to launch with 1 carrier in the US, Sprint of all things, i’m surprised so many have been sold. for anyone that understands financials, the picture thats being painted is quite positive considering their previous stance.
i’m not sure why this article seems slightly negative, it makes it sound like James doesnt understand financial analysis. also, why would you compare Palm to RIM? i wouldnt compare insignificant players like jkontherun to real players like Engadget. the new Palm is 6ms old, they at least have a chance to become a top tier player. how many years have you been at it & how far has your blog come? all these years & your still a blip on the radar screen, while much younger blogs have come along, grown, & surpassed.
not trying to be negative, but i learned along time ago to respect those who accomplish more than i do, otherwise you just look foolish. do you think your historical foot print will be as big as Jon Rubinsteins? similar to how forum kids, bloggers, etc make fun of Bill Gates, but NONE of us who know him & teach ever will
Not negative, other than the numbers themselves. As indicated, Palm has lowered the loss if you discount that one-time charge in Q2, as indicated. RIM was compared to PALM simply because they both reported their numbers today, as the post indicates.
It also showed that in the same time period, one company lost a lot of money and a similar company made a lot of it.
The post as written very carefully avoided negative treatment of either company.
Sorry you think we are insignificant, we just report the news like this. I agree Jon Rubinstein has made a big impact on the industry, and I respect him. As I recall I didn’t mention him in this post nor have I ever, I don’t believe.
I also don’t make fun of Bill Gates. I have met him twice and find him a very engaging person who has impacted the world as few others.
Palm needs something else to succeed…I think
A fast, very fast processor
Need to launch Palm Pre all over the world at once (don’t know why they are not doing this)
another phone set – may be larger in screen
and some good luck
jk – that was a very good response to a pretty out of line post. Palm lost millions of dollars for the year and all you were doing was reporting it. I love when people say they are ‘not being negative’ or finish a derogatory comment with ‘no offense’. It’s too bad thousands of people read this insignificant blog everyday… including ProfEos. Maybe he/she owns Palm shares?
I am very much anticipating Palm’s announcements @ CES. I have been on the fence for a Pre for a while. If they can finally work out the lag issues, I will pick one up.