Financial analysts were less than enthusiastic about Palm Inc. when the company announced that its Treo SmartPhone line would fail to meet sales forecasts for the quarter ended September 1. In its preliminary earnings release, Palm said quarterly revenue would be about $26 million lower than projected due to lower Treo retail sales. Moreover, the company was less than forthcoming about the second-quarter outlook, according to the article "Treo taking a tumble?"

"We find it interesting that Palm management did not address [second quarter] revenue outlook," wrote two ThinkEquity analysts in a research note. "When asked, management indicated it had not yet set the 2Q budget. This is somewhat disconcerting given that 2Q commenced last week."

Meanwhile, Research in Motion has unveiled a new Blackberry that's more consumer-oriented -- or "prosumer" -- and could expand the device's image from that of a PDA for suits to a more universal smartphone. And that, in turn, could further encroach on the Treo's niche. The new phone, dubbed the Pearl, will be available from T-Mobile for $199 with service priced at around $20 per month.

"Palm is very threatened right now being about $200 above the price point of its competitors RIM and Motorola," says one analyst in the article "New BlackBerry Pearl a boardroom breakout."

Treo taking a tumble?
http://www.itworld.com/jump/sbnl/smallbusiness.itworld.com/4377/060908treo/index.html

RELATED READING: New BlackBerry Pearl a boardroom breakout http://www.itworld.com/jump/sbnl/smallbusiness.itworld.com/4377/060908blackberry/index.html

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