Major US retailer RadioShack added to Palm’s woes yesterday when it dropped the firm’s Pre and Pixi devices from its shelves.
Individual RadioShack branches and wireless partner Sprint Nextel confirmed the handsets were no-longer on sale and existing stocks won’t be replenished once the last remaining units are sold, according to The Wall St Journal.
A pair of Sprint-branded devices will replace the Palm units in RadioShack stores, the paper said.
The news triggered a double-hit on Palm’s share price in Monday trading, after it revealed late Friday that Michael Abbott, SVP of software development and the man behind Palm’s webOS platform, is set to quit the firm at the end of this week.
The share price fell 73 cents to $4.86 (€3.59) by noon yesterday on the back of the news, Reuters reports, scotching rumours that a deal to sell the beleaguered device maker was imminent.
Abbot’s resignation was revealed in an SEC filing on Friday, and prompted Palm to unveil an incentive scheme in a bid to retain other key executives.
According to the filing, an offer of cash bonuses and stock options will be made to “certain key employees, including executive officers.”
The first executives to benefit are Jeffrey Devine, SVP of global operations, and Douglas Jeffries, SVP and CFO, who each received restricted stock options, and a cash bonus of $250,000 (€185,835) each.
Abbott’s departure is the latest blow for the firm, which last week hung out the ‘for sale’ sign after struggling to grow its share of the global smartphone market.