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Palm focuses on smartphone growth after shipment drop

The launch of the Pre smartphone has failed to boost financial results for mobile phone maker Palm, it has emerged.

In its results for the three months to August, the firm revealed that revenues dropped 82 per cent on the same period last year.

The Pre, which hit American stores in June and is due to launch with O2 in the UK later this year, was mooted as a competitor to the iPhone and Blackberry.

Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Palm, said a total of 823,000 smartphones were shipped from June to August, representing a year-on-year decrease of 30 per cent.

"We're making significant progress with Palm's transformation and our culture of innovation is stronger than ever," he commented.

Rubinstein added: "We're launching more great Palm webOS [the company's new software] products with more carriers and turning our sights toward growth."

As well as the Pre, Palm has released popular products like the Palm Pilot and Treo handset over the last 15 years, but it has struggled to keep pace with Apple and Blackberry.

The Pre, like the iPhone, features mobile email, GPS and a camera, as well as a Qwerty keyboard which tucks into the device.