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Amid increased losses and confusion over the performance to date of the Pre, Palm has confirmed it will dump Windows Mobile entirely, to focus only on its Linux-based webOS platform.

The latest nail in WinMo's coffin came after several years of Palm pursuing a dual-OS strategy designed to tap into Microsoft's strong base in its enterprise heartland - a decision that reflects the rising challenge to WinMo from Linux, even among corporate users.

A Microsoft spokesperson was adopting the company's usual head-in-sand approach to Palm's latest decision. "Palm has been and remains a great partner to Microsoft, and they are one of the many companies we work with to deliver a compelling range of mobile offerings," he said in a statement. Meanwhile, Jerry McNerney, VP of mobility computing at Motorola, told Techworld that his firm remained committed to WinMo, despite speculation that Moto, too, would adopt a single-OS route (Android). "We're committed to Microsoft going forward," he said. Many commentators believe the deal between Nokia and Intel to combine forces on MIDs was yet another sign that WinMo was in its final days, since Intel has been the preferred platform for many Windows handsets.

Palm announced that it would stop developing new Windows phones as it reported its first quarter results, which showed losses up to $164.5m, compared to $41.9m a year earlier - though the figure was actually better than many analysts had expected.

Adjusted sales were $360.7m, also better than the $297.7m forecast by a consensus of analysts, though Palm said it expects adjusted Q2 revenue to fall below Q1, at $240m to $270m. If Pre revenues were not deferred, Palm said revenue would have been $360.7m.

After a hugely high profile launch of the Pre smartphone, widely seen as the vendor's make-or-break product, it has struggled to gain the huge uptake that some observers had predicted, through its initial exclusive carrier Sprint Nextel. The Pre is now also shipping with Bell Mobility in Canada and is expected to come to the UK, Germany and Ireland, via Telefonica O2, in mid-October. Palm recently announced a cutdown version of the Pre, called Pixi, which also runs webOS.

But Q1 was all about the Pre, and Palm said it had shipped a total of 823,000 smartphones, nearly all of them Pre units, representing a 134% increase over its fourth quarter, and a 30% year-on-year decline. This means that the Pre is, so far, not compensating for declining sales of legacy models like Treo and Palm clearly does not see this situation improving during 2009.

CEO Jon Rubinstein was far more subdued than he was at the Pre launch, saying he expected a gradual ramp-up trend for Pre, comparable to that of the low end Centro, which was also a slow burner but ended up being a major contributor to Palm's fortunes.

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