Palm names hardware chief
Published: 02 May 2002 15:36 BST
Palm on Thursday named a new president of its hardware unit in what is likely to be a sign that the handheld maker is getting closer to formally separating that division from its operating system group.
Todd Bradley will take over the day-to-day operations at the Palm Solutions Group, overseeing the company's handheld computer software, such as enterprise email applications; add-ons, such as keyboards and SD Card and MultiMediaCard expansion cards; and hardware.
Bradley has served as chief operating officer of the group and will retain that role, Palm said.
"We're building the management bench strength we need to support the eventual external separation of our two Palm businesses," chief executive Eric Benhamou said in a statement, referring to previously announced plans to separate PalmSource, the company's operating system subsidiary, and create two independent businesses.
The company did not give any more details on the timing of the split.
Palm was once the undisputed king of the handheld market, but has grappled with slow sales and inventory problems.
Palm managed to post a profit of $2.9m for its third quarter ended March 1, or 1 cent per share, topping some analyst estimates. In that quarter, its PalmSource subsidiary, which develops and licenses the Palm operating system, recorded revenue of $19.5m, although $11.7m of that came from Palm itself. As a standalone business, Palm said the operating system unit had a pro forma loss of about $1m.
Benhamou said in March that it was likely that both the hardware and operating system units would become profitable.
Palm divided up the hardware and software businesses last year, bringing in former AT&T chief technology officer David Nagel to run the PalmSource unit.
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