Palm in the red, Treo sales slump

Palm posted a bleary fiscal first quarter of 2008, which ended in August 31, and resulted in a loss for the first time in four years. The company just launched its newest Treo device, the Palm Centro. Palm posted a net loss of $800,000 for the quarter, compared to a gain of $16.5 million last year. Overall revenue was up just 1 percent from $356 million last year to $361 million this year. Smart revenue was up 21 percent year-over-year. Palm warned Wall Street of the impending loss in mid-September.

During the quarter, Palm announced an investment from Elevation Partners, and Palm CEO Ed Colligan pointed to that investment as one lifeline: "As we move toward completing the recapitalization transaction with Elevation Partners [1], we are excited to strengthen our ability to accelerate Palm's growth in the future."

The iPhone launched [2] during Palm's most recent quarter and most analysts claim that had the biggest effect on Palm's bottomline. RIM's BlackBerrys are also selling well [3], however. Palm also pulled its Foleo [4] keyboard and monitor devices during the quarter, just days before they were set to launch. 

For more on Palm's quarter:
- read this press release [5]