Palm hits the skids, puts itself up for sale

Well, I shouldn't be surprised, but I am disappointed. Suffering a disastrous quarter caused in part by an advertising campaign that made people feel queezy, Palm has quietly put itself up for sale. Dell has already passed, but there is apparently some interest from HTC and Leveno.

But according to Engadget, this is only one of the options on the table. The smartphone maker is also looking at licensing its WebOS to third parties, and/or finding new investors.

I think the last one is going to be a tough sell.

It's a shame to seem the go. The Pre was a good competitor to the iPhone, but they launched too late and failed to build a strong ecosystem around their product allowing Android to take its place as runner-up to the iPhone.

Microsoft should buy them.

W3bbo said:

It's a shame to seem the go. The Pre was a good competitor to the iPhone, but they launched too late and failed to build a strong ecosystem around their product allowing Android to take its place as runner-up to the iPhone.

That pretty much sums up what happened. The entire history of Palm will make a fascinating case study into business failures at some ivy league university some day.

W3bbo said:

Microsoft should buy them.

Not sure Microsoft needs them. I'm not sure anyone needs them, though a few online pundits reckon HTC is interested because they want to use Palm's patent portfolio to fight Apple in court.

Ray7 said:

W3bbo said:

*snip*

 

Not sure Microsoft needs them. I'm not sure anyone needs them, though a few online pundits reckon HTC is interested because they want to use Palm's patent portfolio to fight Apple in court.

That would telling:  buying another company is cheaper than a court settlement with Apple.

Really wish they would sort out the patent mess so that everyone could concentrate on core business and not court cases.

Herbie

Dr Herbie said:

Ray7 said:

*snip*

That would telling:  buying another company is cheaper than a court settlement with Apple.

 

Really wish they would sort out the patent mess so that everyone could concentrate on core business and not court cases.

 

Herbie

 

It is not like they have a choice anyway. I am sure they want to concentrate on the core business, but, they weren't allowed to.

W3bbo said:

It's a shame to seem the go. The Pre was a good competitor to the iPhone, but they launched too late and failed to build a strong ecosystem around their product allowing Android to take its place as runner-up to the iPhone.

 

Microsoft should buy them.

I don't think Pre was a strong competitor to the iPhone - it was more about Andriod level. The phone hardware itself was plasticy junk, no better than an HTC; the installed software looked good, but the huge limitations of their SDK meant little 3rd party software developed.

The Pre was not only a day late and a dollar short, but it was also the wrong market. Palm was a PDA maker and should have focused on RIM 5 years ago when it had a chance.

Palm's senior vp of software and services takes off. Others given shares to stick around.

As Engadget points out, this is probably to prevent a mass exodus before/during any sale of the company.

And if you still want a Pre, then Amazon is now offloading them at an unsurprisingly low price.

Ray7 said:

Palm's senior vp of software and services takes off. Others given shares to stick around.

 

As Engadget points out, this is probably to prevent a mass exodus before/during any sale of the company.

 

And if you still want a Pre, then Amazon is now offloading them at an unsurprisingly low price.

Palm has the best mobileOS currently available IMHO, it would suck if they went under... A few good apps in their app store and a new device or two running webos is their best shot of getting back on their feet again.

History of Palm:

1) Palm is a huge mover in the PDA market

2) Palm and Microsoft fight it out for who can make the most poorly designed device

3) Palm sleeps with little innovation and originality for half a dozen years

4) Apple releases something innovative and popular

5) Palm tries to fight back, but now weighs 300 pounds, smells like poo, and has fired most of its programmers

6) Microsoft runs around in circles yelling incoherently

7) Google releases something to compete with Apple

8) Palm goes up for sale, which Microsoft buys..

9) Microsoft release WM 7 which is set to compete with iPhone 1.0

10) Apple releases iPhone 4.0 two weeks later

ManipUni said:

History of Palm:

1) Palm is a huge mover in the PDA market

2) Palm and Microsoft fight it out for who can make the most poorly designed device

3) Palm sleeps with little innovation and originality for half a dozen years

4) Apple releases something innovative and popular

5) Palm tries to fight back, but now weighs 300 pounds, smells like poo, and has fired most of its programmers

6) Microsoft runs around in circles yelling incoherently

7) Google releases something to compete with Apple

8) Palm goes up for sale, which Microsoft buys..

9) Microsoft release WM 7 which is set to compete with iPhone 1.0

10) Apple releases iPhone 4.0 two weeks later

Non of that made any sense

stevo_ said:

ManipUni said:

*snip*

Non of that made any sense

Thank you, I try...

bureX said:

Ray7 said:

*snip*

Palm has the best mobileOS currently available IMHO, it would suck if they went under... A few good apps in their app store and a new device or two running webos is their best shot of getting back on their feet again.

Even if Palm goes under, I don't think it's the last we've seen of WebOS

ManipUni said:

stevo_ said:

*snip*

Thank you, I try...

well, I liked it ...

anyway, wacky idea for a buyer: Adobe.  They have a mobile problem, right?

contextfree said:

ManipUni said:

*snip*

well, I liked it ...

 

anyway, wacky idea for a buyer: Adobe.  They have a mobile problem, right?

Could use the patents to sue Apple (in revenge). But it is a long shot. I will certainly be interested.