Digital Daily » Standard and Poor’s http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com by John Paczkowski Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:11:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 http://allthingsd.com/theme/images/logo-rss.jpg All Things Digital http://allthingsd.com/ 144 22 No Christmas in Palm-ville http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20091104/no-christmas-in-palm-ville/ http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20091104/no-christmas-in-palm-ville/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:04:23 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=28191 GrinchWPreWith a handful of new Android handsets arriving at market in the coming weeks, including Motorola’s (MOT) much anticipated Droid, Palm’s (PALM) prospects for blowout winter holiday sales are dimming.

Earlier this week, analysts at Citigroup (C) and CL King voiced their concerns about the company in the wake of another ugly quarter from carrier partner Sprint (S). Now Standard & Poor’s is doing so as well. In a note to investors today, analyst James Moorman whacked down his price target on the company’s shares to $10 from $12 and reiterated his “Strong Sell rating.

“We believe the upcoming holiday selling season will be very competitive for handset vendors and think Palm could see competitive pressures,” he wrote. “We believe the small price difference between the Pre handset (especially when on sale at third party vendors) and the new lower-end Pixie could limit Pixie sales and confuse consumers during the launch.”
 
Indeed. As I noted here last week the $99 price Sprint has set for the Pixi is identical to the Pre’s on Amazon (AMZN). And the Pre has a faster processor, a better screen, and Wi-Fi support as well.

Not the most desirable circumstances for heading into the holiday season.

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Today brought with it nasty news for Motorola. Standard & Poor’s slashed its corporate credit rating on the long-suffering handset maker, noting that the company’s troubled mobile business is likely to continue what is already a two-year downward slide. “Revenues and profits in the first part of the year will be challenged by a narrower, somewhat-dated product portfolio,” S&P’s Bruce Hyman said in a statement. “Standard & Poor’s also expects about 10 percent fewer handsets to be sold worldwide in 2009 at lower average prices than in 2008.”

An ugly blow for Motorola (MOT). With the economy in a deadspin and stronger rivals like Nokia (NOK) lowering handset sale expectations, things are looking decidedly bleak for the company.

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