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SUNNYVALE, Calif.—In a move apparently designed to assuage investors’ concerns, Palm Inc. announced that it would bring its Treo smart phone sporting Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile operating system to Vodafone Group plc by the end of the year. Palm currently offers its Windows-powered Treo 700 in the U.S. through CDMA carriers Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp.
The announcement comes on the heels of Palm’s acknowledgement that its fundamental growth strategy includes a strong European presence, but that its Treo 650 would be discontinued there because it did not meet European Union environmental laws, which kicked in July 1.
Palm announced on June 8 that it had struck a deal with United Kingdom carrier O2 plc to offer the Treo 650, only to pull the plug on the model weeks later. Though analysts said that the discontinuance of the Treo 650 in Europe made sense because the handset was near the end of its life cycle, the timing proved awkward. The situation contributed to Palm’s weak forecast for the third quarter and, at the time, the news pushed down Palm’s stock price.
Today’s news, however, does offer the company an opening into Europe—thus Palm’s move to get the news out fast on the heels of its earlier, disappointing announcement. The new GSM-based, Windows Mobile Treo—whose model number was not provided—will benefit from distribution through one of the world’s largest network operators. Palm said it would release the official model number upon launch.
Palm’s stock was trading up 15 cents per share after the news at $15.36.
