It's a difficult time for Palm as sales of its current smartphones have dropped off as the company tries to build demand for its yet-to-be-released Palm Pre phone.
Sales of smartphones at Palm plunged 42 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago, the company reported as part of its quarterly financial results.
Still Palm presented an optimistic note to analysts on its conference call. The company is betting the farm on the Palm Pre, which is scheduled to be available on the Sprint network by the middle of the year.
And that will just be the beginning, it says. After the launch of the Pre, Palm will work on bringing new devices based on the company's newly designed operating system, webOS that powers the Pre. "You will see a whole product line come from Palm based on the WebOS," Ed Colligan, CEO of Palm told analysts.
This news should come as no surprise to company watchers. Palm said last month it will drop its long time favorite, Palm OS, in favor of the new webOS. The company also uses Windows Mobile operating system for some of its phones. But Windows Mobile OS lacks the breezy interface that gives webOS its sheen.
See also:
Palm Energizes Developers for Palm Pre
6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is Special
Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
Video: Hands-On With the Palm Pre
New WebOS Is Palm's Secret Sauce
Up Close and Personal With the Palm Pre
