Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein has written a memo to the smartphone builder’s staff and while he’s trying to remain positive it doesn’t look good. Handsets like the Palm Pre, he says, are just not selling as well as expected.
Rubenstein wraps the problems Palm is facing in corporate speak. He says: “…slower than expected customer adoption of our products…has prompted our partners to put additional orders on hold for the time being.” Translation: customers aren’t buying Palm smartphones and operators aren’t ordering them.
After talking up Palm’s recent advertising blitz, Rubenstein admits that Palm needs to “improve product quality and differentiate the Palm product experience.” That’s as good as admitting that Palm’s products have not been good enough to compete with iPhone and the gargantuan power of Google Android.
There are doubts about whether the Palm Pixi Plus will make it to the UK and while Rubenstein claims he’s never used an iPhone, it seems like Palm needs some new ideas. Will its perked up version of WebOS and the forthcoming Palm app store do the job?
Let us know what you think of Palm’s prospects and take a gander at our Palm Pre review for our take.
Out now | from £free on contract | Palm (via Wall Street Journal)
