HANDSPRING POSTS FIRST QUARTER REVENUES of $70.5 million, UP 36% SEQUENTIALLY

HANDSPRING POSTS FIRST QUARTER REVENUES of $70.5 million, UP 36% SEQUENTIALLY




(press1: iBOT) - MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. (October 17, 2000)Handspring, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAND) today posted revenues of $70.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2001 ended September 30, 2000. Quarterly revenues increased 36% over Q4 due to strong demand for Handspring s Visor line of handheld computers and Springboard expansion products, continued expansion in the U.S. retail market, and new distribution channels in Canada, Europe, and Asia.



Donna Dubinsky, founder and CEO of Handspring, said, We are pleased to report such outstanding results in our second quarter as a public company. We continue to see broad acceptance of our products and the Springboard platform across all regions of the world. We feel very positive about our position as we head into the holiday season.



Handspring showed gross margins of 31.2% for the quarter, up slightly from the prior quarter. Including amortization of deferred stock compensation, net loss for the quarter was $16.4 million.



Handspring made several announcements during the quarter. The company expanded its domestic retail distribution with additional retail partners such as Fry s Electronics, J&R Computer World and CDW. Handspring also expanded its international presence by starting to sell its Visor products through Canadian and French retail partners, including Business Depot, Future Shop, The Phone House, Carrefour, and FNAC. To increase its online sales, Handspring introduced an aggressive affiliate program through which qualified Web sites can direct online Visor sales to Handspring.com for a referral fee.



Additionally, many third-party developers announced new Springboard products during the quarter. We have been pleased with the growing acceptance of our Springboard platform in the developer community, with over 5,400 developers now registered for our program as of quarter close, Dubinsky continued. It is very exciting to see the number and variety of Springboard products coming to market, particularly in the communications and multimedia space.



Third party products and services recently shipping include the Glenayre @ctivelink Wireless Messaging Module, the Xircom International high speed 56K V.90 modem, the Good Technology SoundsGood MP3 Audioplayer module, the Innogear Minijam MP3 Player module, the Shinei my-Vox Voice Recorder, and the Infinity Softworks powerOne Graph and Finance Calculators. Third party products and services announced during the quarter and shipping later include the Tellus Technology WIPClip CDPD Springboard Module, the Arkon Networks Parafone Cordless Telephone Springboard Module, the GoAmerica and Sierra Wireless Access Solution partnership, and the Airprime CDMA Wireless Springboard Module. Additionally, Texas Instruments announced its Open Multimedia Applications Platform to deliver 3G wireless connectivity to the Handspring Visor.



Within the last few weeks, Handspring announced three major new products: VisorPhone, Visor Prism, and Visor Platinum. VisorPhone is a mobile telephone expansion module that snaps into the Springboard expansion slot, creating a single integrated product for voice and handheld computing needs. The Visor Prism and Visor Platinum products expand the company s Visor family of handheld computers. Visor Prism is Handspring s first product with a color display. With its full 16-bit color capability, Visor Prism can display over 65,000 colors for viewing photo quality graphics. Visor Platinum is the fastest Palm OS handheld computer on the market today 50% faster than Visor Deluxe.



Handspring s earnings conference call will be webcast on its Web site at www.handspring.com, live at 2 p.m. PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) on Tuesday, October 17, 2000, and archived through Wednesday, October 25, 2000. The audio replay of the company s Q1 conference call can be accessed via telephone after 4 p.m. PDT Tuesday, October 17, 2000 until 5 p.m. PDT Friday, October 20, 2000 by calling (858) 812-6440 and entering the reservation number 16600037.



ABOUT HANDSPRING

Handspring is a leading innovator in the handheld computing industry. The company develops, manufactures and markets a family of expandable handheld computers for a broad range of markets and customers.

Founded in 1998 by the creators of the world-leading Palm Computing platform, Handspring's flagship technology is the Springboard platform that provides a simple and easy method for hardware and software expansion. Today Handspring sells its Visor line of handheld computers, along with a line of Springboard expansion modules and accessories, at Handspring.com and through select Internet and retail partners in the United States, Asia, Canada, and Europe.



CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the growing acceptance of Handspring s products and Springboard platform, the strength of the company s position entering the holiday selling season, and the number and variety of new Springboard modules and third party services under development, particularly those relating to communications and multimedia, and the time frame when they will be available to consumers. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors including, among others, the company s limited operating history, the challenges posed by the company s rapid growth, the company s and its suppliers ability to meet product demand in light of industry-wide component shortages, developer adoption of the Springboard expansion slot, the company s ability to ship its new products by their anticipated delivery dates, consumer acceptance and demand for the company s new products, and the rapid pace of technological change and competitive developments in the handheld computer industry. Reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The matters discussed in this press release also involve risks and uncertainties described in the company s Form 10-K Annual Report and Form S-1 Registration Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.



Handspring, the Handspring logo, Visor, VisorPhone and Springboard are trademarks of Handspring, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.



Investor Relations: Public Relations:

Brad Driver Allen Bush

Handspring Handspring 650-230-5070 650-230-5029

bdriver@handspring.com abush@handspring.com