The company is suffering through a glut of its products. Retail sales of Palm handhelds have been weak, with April sales off 20 percent from March, according to NPD Intelect figures cited by Palm Chief Financial Officer Judy Bruner. A Palm representative declined to comment on the authenticity of the pictures. As of last quarter, Palm had about 190,000 subscribers to its Palm.net service. IDC analyst Kevin Burden says Palm has probably sold about 300,000 Palm VII and Palm VIIx handhelds, but that many people have stopped using the wireless Internet access.
Wireless service is still pretty expensive.
As the Palm VII always has been, it will be for those consumers who view the wireless Internet as ready and compelling. The number of consumers that hold that view is probably limited, he said. However, Burden said the wireless Internet is still in its infancy, with better networks and better handhelds on the way. I take this to be a really good sign that they are not going to repeat the m500 debacle. But even an inventory glut has its bright side, he said.