Palm Inc., maker of the Treo and Centro smart phones, is eliminating jobs as it confronts falling sales and mounting competition from Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.

Palm is seeking "profitability and long-term growth, resulting in company reductions in the U.S. and internationally," Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. She declined to comment on the number of job cuts.

The company, losing customers to Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry, predicted that sales would drop this quarter from the previous period. Palm is burning through cash while it works on software for a new generation of phones, Tavis McCourt, a Morgan Keegan & Co. analyst, said earlier this month.

Palm, based in Sunnyvale, California, rose 45 cents, or 25 percent, to $2.24 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have fallen 65 percent this year.

Development of the new software, a phone operating system, is on track, Fox said. Palm expects to release it next year.

The company had 1,050 employees as of May 31, the most recent number released by the company.