Jobs fear for Palm staff

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 22 Nov 2008 at 10:29

Struggling smartphone maker Palm is to cut its workforce as it loses market share to rivals Apple and Research in Motion.

Spokeswoman Lynn Fox says the layoffs have already begun, but declines to say how many jobs will be cut. "The goal is to consolidate resources and focus our efforts more effectively," she claims.

Palm, which employs 1,050 workers, is a veteran of the smartphone market and makes the Centro and Treo smartphones. But the company's market share has been shrinking, with RIM's BlackBerry becoming the device of choice for the business set and Apple's iPhone a consumer phenomenon.

Palm is staking its future on the launch of a yet-to-be-named operating system and device, and Fox says the OS is on track to be released this year, with the device following in the second half of 2009.

Time is of the essence as the mobile data environment seems to grow more competitive by the day. News of Palm's layoffs emerged as hundreds of people lined up at shops in the US to buy the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen phone for RIM.

According to recent research from ChangeWave, only 5% of companies plan to buy a Palm smartphone in the next quarter, half the figure from a year ago. By contrast, 78% of corporations planned to buy a RIM device and 22% an iPhone.