Motorola hurting, Palm Buyout Rumor to Come to a Head This Afternoon

So Motorola isn't doing so hot - they're saying that "returning the business to acceptable performance will take more time and greater effort." Which makes the fact that today's the supposed day for Palm's buyout rumors to finally materialize (because Palm is announcing financial results this afternoon) all the more interesting. Moto needs help bringing back profit margins and Palm has them due to the premium that Treos still command. Stay tuned, folks, we'll be covering Palm's conference call this afternoon with our blogging client at the ready.

Motorola sharply scaled back its first-quarter earnings estimate, named a new president and chief operating officer, and announced the retirement of its current chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, a major Palm shareholder told CNBC he expects Motorola to announce as soon as Thursday a deal to acquire Palm for roughly $2 billion.

Read: Motorola Slashes Guidance; Financial Chief to Retire - News - CNBC.com

Update: Here's a zinger from Paul Kederosky (via /Message):

Motorola is getting set to give Apple a nice mobile-market birthday present: It is supposedly buying Palm for $2-billion, which should thoroughly distract Moto around a doomed platform.

Steve should send 'em a nice note of thanks.

My own thoughts: a buyout could probably be good for Motorola - Palm's not as tied to the antiquated Garnet/PalmOS as they may seem. On the other hand, I would still like to see Palm be able to control their own fate for another year before I write them off, if only because I have a soft spot for them.