Struggling Palm to close stores next month

Palm Inc. is to close 7 of 8 of its retail stores by the end of February. The company is to focus on smartphones as it continues to lose sales to Blackberrys and iPhones.

Palm is losing out to rivals and most of its customers have deflected to Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry device. Furthermore, Apple Inc. is stealing buyers with its iPhone.

In a statement, Palm said we continue to focus our company around core business initiatives and are consolidating more resources behind fewer programs in order to compete most effectively.

The stores, mostly in airports, will close next month, however the store at Palm’s Sunnyvale, California-based offices is to remain open.

In December, the company forecast sales that missed analysts’ predictions. Sales this quarter are expected to fall to between $310 million and $320 million, the second consecutive fall. Analysts forecast $357 million in sales.

Story link: Struggling Palm to close stores next month