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Topic: Handspring Financial Turnaround

VTL
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Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 604

Handspring Financial Turnaround

CNET, ZDNet and PalmInfocenter all have articles on a new $10 million investment by Qualcomm in HS, plus another offering of their shares expected to raise millions more.

Maybe they will use the money to come up with a CLIE killer Prism 2? One can hope.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2737

12-19-2001 04:33 PM

dick-richardson
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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

They got the money, but do they see the light? The neo, pro, and edge should stay (with QC and product support). The prism and deluxe should be dropped (discounted and sold off, rather), while a prism with deluxe form factor, improved screen (I'm sure whatever they've got up their sleeve with the color treo would be nice), 16MB RAM, and rechargeable. Then commit $X yearly to maintaining the visor line (throw in the newest OS, upgrade processor, increase resolution, more memory, etc.) - combo devices don't appeal to everyone.

The treo line just needs to start shipping ASAP - with a CDMA option for the US. Like it or not, it has a much broader base than GSM. Qualcomm is obviously pushing for this as well.

On second thought, maybe killing the edge along with the prism & deluxe would be the better choice. W/O integrated sprinboard, visors have a hard time competing. Oh, and stop painting the damn cases!

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12-19-2001 09:27 PM

foo fighter
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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Re: Handspring Financial Turnaround

quote:
Originally posted by VTL
CNET, ZDNet and PalmInfocenter all have articles on a new $10 million investment by Qualcomm in HS, plus another offering of their shares expected to raise millions more.

Financial turnaround? I'm afraid not. Despite this $10 million investment, Handspring continues to burn cash and bleed red ink. They have been since the day the company was founded. And what's worse, the offering of more shares to raise capitol will, most likely, dilute the value of the company's common stock.

quote:
Maybe they will use the money to come up with a CLIE killer Prism 2? One can hope.

Never going to happen. For two reason:

1. Money: Handspring doesn't have the capital to create and market yet another new product. I suspect, even with this 10mil from Qualcomm, HS is digging into the company piggy bank just to launch the Treo. It costs a great deal of money to design..deploy..and market a new product. Handspring doesn't have the resources to make two major product launches in one year anymore.

Make no mistake...the Treo is a make or break product. If it goes down...it takes Handspring with it.

2. Philosophy: Hawkins has already stated in his latest keynote that devices like the Clie, and PocketPC, are going to fade away in the long run. The future, he believes, will be based around communicator-like devices such as the Treo...what a coincidence! And the fact that Treo has the same low resolution display as your Visor is proof that Hawkins views high resolution as frivolous and unnecessary.

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12-20-2001 02:14 PM

dick-richardson
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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Re: Re: Handspring Financial Turnaround

quote:
Originally posted by foo fighter
...what a coincidence!

Not really. If he didn't think that was where the market was heading, he wouldn't design and sell it. Think, foo. You're so caught up in predicting HS's demise that your missing some simple logic.

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

12-20-2001 06:27 PM

foo fighter
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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

Dick, I was being sarcastic.

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12-20-2001 06:32 PM

dick-richardson
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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

quote:
Originally posted by foo fighter
Dick, I was being sarcastic.

I missed it. My apologies.

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Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

12-20-2001 06:34 PM

bscblue
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Registered: Dec 2001
Location:
Posts: 16

Foo, you seem awfully ready to find what will be death knell of Handspring. Why is that?

12-27-2001 04:15 PM

foo fighter
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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:
Originally posted by bscblue
Foo, you seem awfully ready to find what will be death knell of Handspring. Why is that?

Why? Look at Handspring's portfolio, it's a mess. They have burned through most of their cash (still are), and have never turned a profit. Handspring eerily resembles a failing dot com. It has now come to the tragic point of begging for investment capitol, such as the recent Qualcomm agreement. A sad fall from grace.

I have no ill will towards the company, other than its poor track record for new and innovative products (the Treo is an exception). But, overall, HS was over-hyped. Since the company's inception, they have released a long line of "me too" products that have failed to take the market by storm. And despite Hawkins claim that his company will one day be the leader in the PDA space, his company still does little more than bite the heals of Palm. With Sony taking a sudden leadership role in platform development and innovative new technologies, you have to wonder how much longer this can continue.

Will Handspring die? No one knows the answer to that question, and only HS can determine that fate. They are betting the farm on the Treo. If it is a smashing success, and it generates enough revenues to turn a profit...then HS will move forward. But if the product bombs, then we will all be reading Handspring's obituary on News.com one day.

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12-27-2001 04:45 PM

bscblue
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Registered: Dec 2001
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Posts: 16

Well, even if they are working their way through their capitol they have still, I think managed, to help lead the market in the right direction. The main thing that set them apart from their competitors was the SpringBoard slot (expandability and versatility its goal) and their ability to think ahead. I myself don't want a Treo because I like my Visor and VisorPhone but I can understand others who do want it and have need of it.

Sony has expandability through its MemoryStick slot but that was a given. They have put one on nearly every electronic they produce. And the JogDial? Those started out on their cordless phones and rolodexes. But besides that, they haven't innovated too much.

Palm just got in on the expandability bandwagon and they use those dreadful multimedia cards. No big whoop there.

But Palm and Handspring and all the other manafacturers of handhelds are feeling a crunch on cash and profitability due to the financial situation around the world, not just here.

Sony hasn't really been hurt but they are not a standalone handheld company; they are a multi-national financial powerhouse that doesn't make only electronics, they own land, banks, other companies, and god knows what else. So they can do quite a bit right now in any sector they wish.

The Treo is an innovative product and will certainly sell and sell well to all handheld users across the board and also to those who need to carry a few less little gadgets.

P.S. About the only thing that I think is horrid with the Treo is the loss of the SpringBoard slot. What is going on with that idea? I really think that may put off some diehard HS fans but for others, like most older Palm users and other handheld users, they'd be used to it.

Last edited by bscblue on 12-27-2001 at 05:45 PM

12-27-2001 05:34 PM

yardie
Member

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Handspring is here to stay

I know that Mr Foo Fighter has been predicting the demise of Handspring. BUt I personally think handspring is here to stay. They have some good financial backing and they are relatively strong. The worse of the economic downturn is over so they can't do any worse now. The Treo is one of the most (if not the most) anticipated Palm OS phone hybrid in history. i am willing to bet that these thing are going to fly off the shelves liek hotcakes. I expect Handspring's stock to double by mid-summer when they announce that they are finally profitable. My prediction is that Handspring and Palm will be one again within 2 years.

01-01-2002 07:42 AM

OrangeDeluxe
Member

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 71

Happy New Year!

Well, I certainly hope HS bounces back...We still hold a few hundred shares & it would be nice to get our money back someday

All I know is that everyone I know has opted to buy a HS device over a Palm. I have a few customers that have Palms (all supplied by their jobs, not paid for out of pocket,) and those folks are still impressed with my VDX.

I guess the VDX market was finally full for HS to discontinue the model. My suggestion would be to put the color cases on Plats & call it a new VDX+. Sure there's the (yawn) Neo, but it seems that the Platinum is still slightly faster (or just more efficient?) in benchmark tests. Maybe HS will start using flashable memory for the OS as this seems to be the only drawback to a HS device?

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01-02-2002 12:29 AM

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