Is the popularity of the cheap Centro biting Palm in the financial behind? Despite selling a record 968,000 smartphones in Q4, up nearly a third over last year, Palm recorded an impressive $43.4 million loss.

I was curious how Palm could sell the Centro for $99 and still make money. Well, apparently they can’t. Having a runaway hit isn’t such a good thing if you’re taking a loss on every unit — not that Palm admits they’re selling Centro below cost to build market share, but you’ve got to wonder.

On the bright side, Palm’s market share has grown and the Windows Mobile Treo 800w debuts in a few weeks. Maybe one of these days we’ll even see that Nova OS the execs keep teasing (and maybe hell will freeze over, but if the Eagles went back on tour, anything can happen). CEO Ed Colligan insists that Palm is "focused on building long-term value." It helps if your company doesn’t go bankrupt before you get there.

NASDAQ slammed Palm stock for 8.26% down on the day to close at 6.00.

via intomobile.com

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