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- Visor & Deluxe (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)
-- IPO (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=1206)

Handspring has a lot of nerve announcing that they are going public when they can't seem to service the customers they already have. Here it is 3/31/00 and still no W2k patch for USB syncing. They could raise some money just by repairing their customer service and order dept. Think how many order cancellations we've read about in these posts because people simply got tired of waiting. An IPO will not help you run your business any better!! Take care of the business you already have!!!!

I can't believe this! Handspring is showing a great deal of arrogance. It's far too early for a company of their caliber to go public w/o having proved themselves first in the marketplace. Palm is a proven player, and look what happened to their stock. It's unimaginable that a "one product" company should think themselves worthy of public trading! They should fix the production and distribution problems first, or at least introduce more products, before jumping on the IPO bandwagon.

Maybe they're hoping to raise money with the IPO to help them pay for more r & d on new products, or to give them the money they need to make some of their designs a reality. The money they make with the IPO could be used to help increase production to meet the increased demand they'll have now that they are in retail.

I'm not saying they're perfect (I still haven't ordered a Visor yet, but I plan to soon) but maybe the IPO will help fix some of the problems people are upset about.

I'm with you Ash. Doing an IPO is usually to raise money. Let's hope that HS uses it wisely. Also, we need to remember that it will take 3-6 months (usually) before the IPO actually takes place.

Let's just hope that it is not a desperation move on HS part to get capital.

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Have Visor Will Travel!

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Originally posted by foo fighter:
I can't believe this! Handspring is showing a great deal of arrogance. It's far too early for a company of their caliber to go public w/o having proved themselves first in the marketplace.

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I have to disagree, I think a stock purchase in Handspring would be a good buy. I have had great luck (since December) with all products and see potential. There biggest problem was not handling the rush for their new product (first six months). Most posts are positive now on this board or there are less negative posts. Springboards are beginning to show up and now that the Visor has been around for 6 months, I think the planned springboards will begin to show up. Palm should be aware, but they have licensed their OS to handspring - so they win even when they lose.

jhb

Maybe one of you who have become email buddy's with Donna could drop her a line suggesting letting some of the original purchasers (in the first 6 months, e.g., those before the IPO was announced) in on the IPO at the offer price, versus the price it starts trading publicly. A small return for the faith and loyalty (and pain), that wouldn't cost Handspring anything because they still get the same amount.

For example, to those who have never noticed, when UPS IPO'ed, it opened at $65, but the offer price (may be using wrong term) was $55. So the media printed how much it went up it's first day from $55, but unless you had access to the investment banks, you could subtract $10 off to figure what the real opportunity was. Of course, it went up but now it's at $59, so whomever bought in on the open market isn't dancin' a jig.

From Page 11 of Handspring's filing:

IF POPULAR SPRINGBOARD MODULES ARE NOT DEVELOPED FOR OUR VISOR HANDHELD
COMPUTER, DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS MAY BE LIMITED.

To differentiate our products from competitors and attract large numbers of
consumer purchasers of our products, we and third parties need to develop
compelling Springboard modules for our Visor handheld computer. We may be unable
to attract a sufficient number of talented third-party Springboard module
developers because of our relatively small market share in the handheld computer industry or for technological or other reasons. There is a limited
number of Springboard modules available for sale. If Springboard module
developers fail to anticipate market needs in a timely manner, or if there is
not a successful distribution outlet for the sale of Springboard modules, demand
for our Visor handheld computer may diminish.


'nuff said...

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Originally posted by trapper99:
Here it is 3/31/00 and still no W2k patch for USB syncing.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Rembrandt:
Maybe one of you who have become email buddy's with Donna could drop her a line suggesting letting some of the original purchasers (in the first 6 months, e.g., those before the IPO was announced) in on the IPO at the offer price, versus the price it starts trading publicly.

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Handspring is RIGHT in filing for an IPO. It is now undergoing a rapid expansion and needs the capital it would get from an IPO for this. I don't think Handspring anticipated the insatiable appetite consumers would have for the visor. People on this board often compare Palm to Handspring, not taking into account that Handspring is trying to accomplish the same things in a few months what Palm took six years to do.

I for one will be buying a piece of the company. I like what I see thus far (especially as of late), and I think this is a company that is here to stay.

Just my 2 cents

So what is the ticker name going to be HNDS?
HSPR, HING, HDSG, VISO...

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Rose's are Red
My Visor is Blue....

Jim Stanton,

You make great sense and I could not agree with you more. I, too, will try and get in on the IPO, even with as little $$$ as I have to spend.

The management team at Handspring has done a great job in getting its company off the mark. Think about what they have done is such a short period of time. It's awesome.

Wine and cheese go well together for those less pleased.

HS needs to get an IPO going as quickly as possible before the market is too diluted with other alternative Palm licensed PDAs. When Sony, the rumored Apple and possible other "Palms" are launched there will be a lot of competition in the Palm alternative market.

Once any other alternative becomes available, the amount of noise, confusion and possible FUD in the marketplace will increase. HS won�t be the only one getting attention when the analysts are considering Palm�s competition. Think about it, if both Sony and Apple come out with a unit, there will be 6 different alternative Palms (TRG, Apple, Sony, HS, Symbol & IBM). I don�t include Qualcomm�s product � totally different market focus.

While Symbol probably doesn�t count because they are in specialty/vertical markets, many companies might purchase a Symbol over others if they have a need for the personnel to have barcode scanners (grocery store managers, warehouse personnel, etc) to fulfill their job duties. I�m surprised that to date, IBM has just re-cased and re-labeled standard Palm units. I would think that they are also working on alternatives. Palm generally still caters to the business market, while HS is going more consumer. I can�t imagine Apple and Sony not catering to the same consumer market.

While HS received a lot of startup money, they are really going to need a lot more cash to build the infrastructure (manufacturing, support, etc) to support the fast growth needed in the next 6 to 12 months. During fast growth periods businesses can not be cash constrained � you can get to the point of manufacturing and pushing product out the door faster than your receivables allow you to pay for it all. In the end the sheets balance, but it can take awhile.

Having product in retail helps a lot because the big chains will move units in relatively consistent (and hopefully growing) numbers and which provides cash for the normal day to day operations.

Then of course, they could just looking for the cash to R&D their next Visor release.

I think Handspring's IPO will be very benifitial to the company. It will bring in a huge amount of money for R&D, and infrastructure.

Most importantly it would hold HS more accountable because the only thing more import to a company than making its customers happy is making its shareholders happy. Hopefully this will put more emphasis on the company to become more proactive to its problems than reactive as it has been. I hope I can get a few shares for myself!

As for a ticker symbol, I just looked on fool.com and no companies came up with the HAND ticker. That would be a good one, especially w/Palm's ticker being PALM.

I was reading USA Today this morning and came upon the Money section. (this is the Monday 3April paper) - in the lower left hand corner the following article appeared.

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HANDSPRING PLANS $300m INITIAL OFFERING

Handspring, the maker of a rival device to the Palm computer, filed Friday for a $300 million initial public offering. The founders for Palm, Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky, started Handspirng in November 1998. Handspring's Visor device works much like the Palm and runs Palm software. But it also includes a slot for interchangable modules that can turn the Visor into an MP3 player or a digital camera. The filiing comes a month after Palm Computing's IPO, which zoomed to $165 a share but has fallen to the $45 range.
--Written by Sarah Nathan from staff and wire reports

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