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Narrower than expected loss


Tue Jan 15, 2002 - 5:37 PM EST - By Marcus Adolfsson

Handspring today announced revenue of $70.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2002 ended December 29, 2001, up 15% from $61.4 million in the prior quarter ended September 29, 2001.

"I am pleased that we were able to achieve our business objectives for the quarter," said Handspring CEO Donna Dubinsky. "We participated well in the holiday demand, and exited the quarter with channel inventory within our target range. We also strengthened our balance sheet with an additional $47 million in cash through a follow-on stock offering and an additional investment from QUALCOMM."

Excluding amortization of deferred stock compensation and intangibles, Handspring reported a net loss of $14.4 million during Q2 (12 cents per share). Analysts was expecting a loss of 14 cents per share.

Including amortization of deferred stock compensation and intangibles, net loss for the quarter was $19.8 million.

During the quarter, Handspring established new channels for the rollout of its Treo family of communicators. The company has just announced an agreement with leading European service provider mm02 to distribute Treo in the U.K., Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Today, the company also announced it will sell Treo through Telia stores in Sweden through a distribution agreement with APE Telecom, a leading Swedish distributor. Small quantities of Treo were shipped late in the quarter to distribution partners in Europe and Asia. Handspring expects to announce additional carrier and distribution partners for Treo this quarter.

Handspring also gained momentum for its enterprise alliance program focused on delivering wireless solutions for corporate environments. During the quarter Handspring announced enterprise-focused agreements with AvantGo, Extended Systems, Infowave, Neomar, Synchrologic, Visto Corporation and Wireless Knowledge, in addition to Aether Systems which was previously announced. Handspring announced an additional development partnership with Visto to provide an automated email solution for the Treo communicator later in 2002.

"At Handspring, we believe that the future of the handheld industry lies in wireless communication, and we are investing our resources accordingly. With the momentum we are seeing as we begin to roll out Treo, we are confident that we can build a leadership position in the emerging market for handheld communicators," Dubinsky added.