Palmone
>> palmone surged after reporting a smaller net loss last quarter. the world’s number one maker of hand-held computers also says it may have a profit this quarter. excluding certain charges, palmone earned a penny a share and analysts expected a loss of 33 cents. we asked palmone’s chief executive about the company’s outperformance.
>> this was the first quarter of merged operations between palm and handspring after concluding that acquisition. we saw broad strength across our product line and a big share gain in the hand-held space, gaining 11% in the u.s. for core p.d.a. business and strong demand for the trio 600, the new smart phone converged device we launched in october as we closed the handspring acquisition.
>> the trio 600 as just displayed by the c.e.o. sells for about $399. palmone’s c.e.o. says that demand for it has been very strong and he doesn’t expect the price of the phone to change over the next several months. airbus told investors today the company will likely deliver 300 planes this year plus it expects to increase prices. the world’s largest commercial planemaker delivered more jets than boeing last year and expects to do the same again this year. however, chief executive officer noel forgeard says overall industry demand is weak.
>> demand is soft at the beginning of the year this year. we have encouraging signs of recovery of the market . with some existing customers asking for advancement of their positions. the market for new orders is soft for the competition and for us.
>> forgeard outlined plans for the rollout of the new 555-seat a380 aircraft. the plane will be the world’s largest passenger aircraft.
>> flight testing will start in the first quarter of 2005 with the first flight and last for about 15 months until it is into service the remainder of 2006.
>> forgeard was in town in new york today to meet with customers, including the c.e.o. of jetblue. the yen rises against the dollar as economic reports show the country’s economy may be on track for a long-lasting recovery. bloomberg’s ron madison is standing by in our tokyo bureau with the latest on that. ron?
>> thanks a lot, matt. the yen rose after reports yesterday showed japan’s service industries growing at the fastest pace in four years with rising consumer confidence to help the so-called tertiary index increase 2.6% in january, sparking optimism that japan’s export-led recovery is expanding to other areas of the economy. a report tomorrow may show japan’s trade surplus holding a four-year high, further bolstering expectations of economic growth. japan expanded at an annual 6.4% pace from the previous quarter. still, any gains in the yen will increase speculation that japan will sell the currency. traders say the government will be reluctant to let the yen advance to 105 to the dollar before the fiscal year winds up, and that is right around the corner, coming up at the end of the month.
>> i’d like to ask but taiwan. what’s the mood down there now after the turmoil surrounding the election?
>> matt, some investment bankers we’ve spoken with, some analysts, are saying that the drop that we saw for the taiwan markets may have been a blip on the radar. they’re expecting that the rally may start back up again that we have been seeing in the taiwanese market .
>> thank you, ron. can bus in canada. that country is adopting new rules on marijuana.
