Elevation Partners ''Very Pleased'' with Palm's Progress

In the wake of a recent round of layoffs and a drop in stock price, there have been rumors that the private equity firm that owns 25% of Palm, Inc. wants out of this investment. 

The private equity firm in question has released a statement:

Elevation Partners is very pleased with the progress Ed Colligan, Jon Rubinstein and the entire Palm team are making. The Company's product pipeline, including a next generation operating system due out soon and a new device targeted for the first half of 2009, excite us enormously. Elevation supports Palm in taking the difficult but necessary steps required to migrate from legacy products. We have a very long-term investment horizon and have no plans to exit our investment in Palm.

Struggling to Reinvent Its Products

Like many companies, Palm is being buffeted by the current economic crisis, but it's in an especially tough spot, as it is in the middle of a significant change. It's in the process of developing products based on a new Linux-based operating system to replace the aging Palm OS, and no one is sure how this is going to turn out.

The company's consumer flagship model, the Palm Centro, has been a solid performer, but it came out more than a year ago. It won't be replaced until the company can release devices based on its new OS, which is scheduled to happen by the middle of next year.

As a result, Palm is depending on its Windows Mobile-based Treo models, which are running into delays.

Related Articles:

• Palm Laying Off Employees, Focusing on Fewer Projects
• Palm Promises Next-Generation Operating System by Mid-2009
• Palm Still Losing Money as It Works to Reinvent Itself

Via Palm Infocenter