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Handspring Posts Strong Third Quarter
 Handspring today announced revenues of $123.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2001 ended March 31, 2001.
Quarterly revenues increased 261% compared to last year, and 7% over FYQ2 2001, reflecting strong demand for new products including the high-end Visor Platinum, Prism, and recently shipping Edge models. Continued expansion in the U.S. retail and reseller markets and new distribution channels in Italy, Australia and New Zealand also contributed to the strong quarter.
Donna Dubinsky, founder and CEO of Handspring, said, "We are pleased with the results of the quarter, particularly our ability to achieve revenue growth in what is usually a sequentially down quarter in our industry. We believe this growth demonstrates both acceptance of our new products as well as ongoing growth in the handheld computing sector in spite of an economic slowdown."
Handspring showed gross margins of 31.8% for the quarter, up from 31.4% the prior quarter. Excluding amortization of deferred stock compensation and intangibles and in-process research and development, Handspring reported a net loss of $6.7 million during Q3. Excluding these same costs, total operating expenses were $46.1 million, or 37.2% of revenue. Including amortization of deferred stock compensation and intangibles and charges of $12.2 million recorded for the Bluelark Systems acquisition, net loss for the quarter was $27.2 million.
Handspring achieved several significant milestones during the quarter, notably introducing and shipping Visor Edge, an innovative product that combines a thin form factor with full Springboard compatibility. The company expanded its domestic distribution to include an additional retail partner, Office Max. Handspring also opened a new distribution channel for the enterprise segment through an agreement with Ingram Micro. Through Ingram, qualified resellers can procure Visors and Springboard modules for targeted corporate markets. Additionally, Handspring partnered with D&H Distribution to help meet the needs of the education market. Internationally, Handspring extended its presence with distribution in Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Finally, the company announced service for VisorPhone on the Voicestream network, and, most recently, the availability of VisorPhone through retail partners.
Handspring also continued to see momentum of its Springboard expansion platform in the developer community, with over 10,000 developers registered and over 45 modules available today.
A streaming version of Handspring's earnings conference call is available through Friday, April 20th, 2001.
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