Analyst confident about Palm-Verizon partnership

Palm got another shot in the arm after an analyst said he thinks Palm can ship 600,000 webOS-based devices through Verizon Wireless in the current quarter. He also said it is possible that Palm will eclipse Research in Motion's BlackBerry platform and Google's Android OS in developer support by the end of this year.

[1]The analyst, Jonathan Goldberg of Deutsche Bank, raised his price target on Palm's stock, which was recently trading up 5.4 percent to $11.11 per share. Calling webOS a "scarce resource," Goldberg said in a research note that Palm's App Catalog already has 1,300 apps, more than in app stores by Nokia and Microsoft. "We think Palm has created a valuable asset in its webOS. If they can grow their installed base of users and keep the carrier momentum going, this value should become more apparent," he said.

While he was confident that the partnership with Verizon would produce dividends, he noted that the market was looking to see if Palm would show strong sequential growth in smartphone sell-through. In its last quarter, Palm's smartphone sell-through--how many phones customers actually bought--dropped 29 percent from the previous quarter and 4 percent year-over-year. That figure underscored Palm's predicament, considering that it was the quarter in which the Palm Pre received wider carrier support and in which Sprint Nextel launched the Palm Pixi.

Palm is hoping its fortunes will soon pick up. Verizon recently began a new marketing campaign for the Pre Plus, which it has been selling for just over a week alongside the Pixi Plus. Additionally, AT&T Mobility has said it will launch two exclusive Palm devices later this year.

For more:
- watch this Verizon ad [1]
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article [2] (sub. req.)

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Upgraded Palm Pre, Pixi headed to Verizon this month [4]
Report: Verizon launching Palm Pre, Pixi at CES [5]
Top Palm investor dismisses takeover talk [6]
Palm's smartphone shipments jump 41%, but losses continue [7]