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To: Eric L who wrote (9016)	1/29/2001 4:59:12 PM
From: JohnG	Respond to of 34857

Motorola withdrawal savages Psion<PON.L> By Richard Meares and David Holmes LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Psion shares were savaged on Monday after it said Motorola <MOT.N> had pulled out of a key project to create "smartphones," dealing Europe's biggest handheld computer maker what one analyst called a bodyblow. The stock lost nearly a fifth of their worth to close at 210-3/4 pence, a 16-month closing low and wiping some 210 million pounds ($306 million) off Psion's market value. Chief Executive David Levin told a conference call the collapse of the partnership would cut about 12 million pounds off pre-tax profits for 2001 as a result of the extra development costs and lost profits from the project. Analysts were expecting Psion profits in a range from 11.4 to 27.5 million for the year, according to Barra estimates. "This news really is bad, it is a bodyblow for them because Psion has got really little new-product launch this year and that was to be it," said Nomura analyst Keith Woolcock. Psion said it would carry on alone with the extra costs and delays. Psion, which lost a quarter of its value in October when it issued a profit warning, added to the grim news by saying the division incorporating its big acquisition of last year, Canada's Teklogix, had not performed as well as had been hoped. The Motorola announcement came late in the day but the fall in Psion shares began in the morning after a media report it was losing share in the European handheld computer market, mainly to its chief rival Palm <PALM.O>. Trying to counter the report of falling sales, Psion said it shipped over half a million palmtop units in 2000, two thirds more than a year before. Speculation of a possible linkup with Palm helped revive the stock a bit before the Motorola news crashed onto the market.