The ongoing competition on the smartphone market forced Palm Inc. to announce layoffs, although the exact number of employees the company is letting go has not been made public. According to spokeswoman Lynn Fox, the job cuts began last week, as a result of the multiple challenges in the industry.

According to PalmInfocenter, sources familiar with the company claimed approximately 200 workers have been sent home. If this is indeed true, it accounts for a large portion of the 1,050 workers Palm Inc. reportedly had.

Spokeswoman Lynn Fox said in a statement at the end of last week that the company is restructuring its worldwide operations to achieve profitability and long-term growth. At the same time, the company said the job reduction will take place in the U.S. but also internationally.

“Our goal is to consolidate resources behind fewer programs to focus our efforts more effectively,” Fox said, adding that this is also a result of the global economic downturn that dampens demand for consumer goods around the world. Furthermore, “the impact on the economic environment is worsened by our maturing Centro line and the length of time it is taking to ramp our new Windows Mobile products.”

The announcement came as Palm continued to pose financial losses, due to an increasing domination on the smartphone market of other companies, such as Apple and Research in Motion. Not even the surprising low-cost Palm Centro managed to save the day, despite having a nice impact on the market.

There may be problems ahead, but Palm said it is not giving up its plans to launch a new operating system by the end of the year, and accompany it with a new device in the first half of next year.