Palm shares are on a tear this morning, rallying on the company’s fourth-quarter financials and the promise of its new Pre handset. Palm is trading at $15.30 as I write this, up more than nine percent in reaction to the company’s claims that the Pre and Palm’s webOS are off to a strong start.
Too bad Palm launched the Pre a week after the close of its fiscal fourth quarter. If it had brought the device to market earlier, the quarterly results it posted Thursday afternoon might have been even better. After market close, Palm posted a narrower-than-expected loss despite a steep revenue decline, sending its shares up more than 10 percent.
“At a time when capital is precious, big-ticket software purchases just don’t make sense.” Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff coughed up that oyster of a sound bite back in February, and judging from the company’s latest financials, it’s at least partly accurate.
Global mobile handset sales fell at a record pace in the first quarter of 2009. And they’re likely to do so once again in the second. With the exception of smart phones, which are apparently doing quite well despite the recession.
Well, look at that. Floundering though it is, AMD has managed some gains in the semiconductor market. According to IDC, the company’s share of the chip market hit 22.3 percent during the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 4.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008. Meanwhile, Intel’s share fell to 77.3 percent, a decline of 4.7 percent.
“Sentiment on the stock has never been worse in our opinion….We are somewhat concerned that earnings, subscribers and unit guidance are all likely to be guided down–sequentially.” Broadpoint AmTech analyst Rob Sanderson said that of Research in Motion in a March 18 note to clients. Boy, was he ever wrong. After market close Thursday afternoon, RIM reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that easily bested analyst expectations.
The ax is indeed swinging at Big Blue. Following reports that it is preparing to cut thousands of jobs in its global services unit, IBM said Thursday it has begun notifying employees of what it likes to euphemistically refer to as “resource actions.” IBM refused to disclose the number of employees affected, but
Lee Conrad, spokesman for a union group called Alliance@IBM, said at least 1,674 in the company’s Application Services unit will lose their jobs.
It’s taken far too long, but Sirius XM is coming to the iPhone. During a conference call to discuss the fourth-quarter results it posted last night, the satellite radio operator said we can expect an application that will stream its service to the iPhone and iPod touch to debut sometime in Q2.
Yahoo’s financials for the fourth quarter–co-founder Jerry Yang’s last as CEO–were about what you’d expect: mediocre. The fourth was Yahoo’s first money-losing quarter since 2002, and the first time its revenue declined since the fourth quarter of 2001.
EMC posted fourth-quarter financials today, reporting sales that were basically in line with projections and earnings that slipped 45 percent from a year ago. Though its profits sank, the company managed to hit all its financial marks for the fourth quarter–something it won’t be doing in the current one. Because the worldwide economic situation has grown so grim and uncertain, EMC has opted not to provide a first-quarter projection, let alone a full-year outlook. Why risk setting expectations too high, right?
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Includes “Pigs in a Polka,” “Rabbit of Seville” and, of course, “What’s Opera, Doc?”
Take the famous ballads and duets of West Side Story, insert a dozen mentions of famous social media sites like twitter and facebook, and this is what you get.
An iPod mini rebuilt with a wooden case
Star Wars meets Magnum, P.I.
Music videos recreated with new lyrics based on what’s actually happening in them. Daydream Believer and Total Eclipse of the Heart are particularly good.
In response to numerous e-mails, I have no idea what planet the giant alien creature is from. Judging from its enormous gills, I’d have to guess it’s from a watery planet. Reminder: please let me know if you plan to be in the office on Memorial Day so I can request HVAC for your floor.
For those of you who mock the wolf shirt beware. There is an old Navajo story about a young man who made fun of another man for wearing a wolf trio shirt. Legend has it that in his sleep, the wolves on the other man’s shirt came to life and tore his body to shreds. They never found any part of that man’s body. The Wolf is something to be respected and feared, not treated like a novelty.
Hands down the most inexplicably bizarre game for Wii I’ve ever seen
Yo mama is so attractive she could be on the cover of Prevention.
The inspiration for this project was to determine who could generate the worst flatulence measurable in a personally unbiased manner.
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
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