Whether it was triggered by anticipation of Palm’s new OS or the upcoming demise of the old one, Palm’s handest sales took a nose-dive in the last quarter. The company sold 482,000 smartphones in the three months ending Feb. 27, almost half of the number sold last year, while device revenues dropped 72%. Though not exactly the kind of numbers any company wants to see, they were largely expected as Palm prepares to sunset the Palm OS, replacing it with its new Linux-based operating system sometime this year. more

Sony Ericsson said today that it expects to ship only 14 million mobile devices in the first quarter of 2009, marking a year-over-year decline of 36% and a more than 40% quarter-on-quarter fall. Blaming weak consumer demand and de-stocking in the retail and distribution channels, the number four handset maker said its gross margin will decline both YoY and from the previous quarter. more