Palm has issued a profits warning ahead of its Q1 results, due in full on 1 October. It now expects merely to break even, or report a small loss. A year ago Palm reported a slim profit of $18.2m. However, this time round it expects net income of $3.4-4.4m before adjustments.

Revenue is expected to be between $359m and $361m for the quarter, compared to $358m in the same period last year. However, gross margin is down 36 points.

Sales of smartphones, which account for around $300m of Palm's income, have fallen in the quarter to 685,000-690,000 units - down from 750,000 units in the preceding quarter.

In June, Palm sold 25 per cent of the business to Elevation Partners, the private equity company founded by Bono from U2.

Quite the tech visionary, that boy. ®