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Palm Sees Growth in Handheld Computer Market Halving in 2001
Hanover, Germany, March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Palm Inc., the biggest maker of handheld computers, said growth in the market for its products may more than halve this year as consumers cut spending amid an economic slowdown in the U.S.
The market is set to expand by between 40 percent and 50 percent this year, after doubling last year, said Satjiv Chahil, chief marketing officer at Palm, in an interview at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany.
``There's this cloud of economic uncertainty that turns into a scare,'' Chahil said. ``What happens in that environment is that you end up with consumer hesitation.''
Palm isn't alone in seeing slowing demand for its products because of the U.S. slowdown. Yesterday, Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina said she's not optimistic about a ``quick'' recovery in economic growth in the second half.
``It's still 50 percent growth,'' Chahil said. ``How do you declare that as the sky falling down?''
Palm shares rose as much as 80 cents cents, or 6 percent, to $13.98. They have fallen 73 percent in the past year.
Palm is showing its first devices that work with expansion cards and an updated operating system at Cebit. The $400 M500 and $450 M505, aimed at affluent professionals and with a color screen, are similar in size and shape to the company's Palm Vx. The new organizers work with postage stamp-sized cards that can store data and information ranging from games to digital photos.
Mar/22/2001 12:51 ET |