Palm will shut seven of its eight company-owned Palm stores next month and will dissolve its co-branding agreement with Airport Wireless, which operates Palm-branded stores in 26 airports nationwide.
Palm will continue to operate its flagship store located here at corporate headquarters.
The smartphone maker, whose models include the Palm, Treo and Centro handhelds, has come under increasing pressure from such competitive devices as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone.
In 2003 the company joined forces with Wellington, Fla.-based Airport Wireless, a mobile retailer with multiple airport locations, to operate “combined concept” Airport Wireless Palm stores. Those locations will revert to the Airport Wireless brand, and will continue to carry a select assortment of Palm products.
