Palm posts loss in Q2

Palm swung to a loss in the fiscal second quarter amid withering competition from consumer electronics rivals, troublesome warranty costs and delays in shipping its products to consumers, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report said the maker of the Treo smart-phone lost $9.63 million on revenue of $349.63 million in the three months ended November 30.

In the year-ago period, Palm earned $12.77 million on revenue of $392.91 million, the report said.

Excluding one-time items such as stock-based compensation expenses and nearly $1 million in restructuring charges, the Sunnyvale-based company said it would have lost $7.84 million.

The report said on that basis, which does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles, analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to lose even more, $8.5 million, on sales of $350.29 million.

Palm said it expected to lose $30 million to $33 million, on revenue of $310 million to $320 million in the current quarter, the Associated Press report further said.

Palm's fiscal second-quarter loss capped a half-year of executive churn and disappointments at Sunnyvale-based Palm, the report further said.