Palm downsize begins

IN A GOOD news, bad news day, Palm announced that it is closing all but one of its 34 retail outlets while at the same time settling a class action lawsuit.

The class action was filed by owners of the Treo 600 and 650 smartphones. It was claimed that the models failed a little too often.

Palm said that the settlement is mostly to avoid a costly court battle, which it can't really afford right now.

It means that those who bought a Treo 600 or 650 between September 30, 2005 and a half year after the settlement is finalised can get a cash rebates on a new Palm device, $75 for Treo 600 users and $50 for owners of the Treo 650.

Of course you will have had to have needed to repair your Treo 600 or 650 or had it replaced twice. Otherwise all you will qualify for is a free repair. So we can't see this setting Palm back much.

The shop closures are also going to have a limited impact. Palm has 34 outlets. 26 are located in airports, with the rest setup as standalone locations, mostly in malls.

The move is part of a company focus on its core business and basically save cash.

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