Who should buy Palm?
By Chris Ziegler 
posted April 12th 2010 10:18AM
posted April 12th 2010 10:18AM
Update: You wanted a poll, you got one.
| HTC | |
|---|---|
| RIM | |
| Lenovo | |
| HP | |
| Microsoft | |
| Apple | |
| Nintendo | |
| Dell | |
| Motorola | |
| Nokia | |
| Sony | |
| Engadget -- seriously. |
The short list
- HTC. We've pretty much said our piece on why this should go down -- it's a good fit for a variety of calculable reasons. Palm's enviable patent portfolio is going to come into play with any possible acquisition, but it plays a particularly prominent role for HTC in light of its upcoming legal battle royale against Apple... and as we've said, HTC could really use a platform to call its own. Killer hardware, software that's ahead of its time -- what could possibly go wrong?
- RIM. As far as we can tell, this one's more of an analysts' pipe dream right now than a substantiated rumor, and for good reason: though BlackBerry remains an enterprise favorite, there's no true next-gen platform in sight, which is exactly what Palm could offer in this relationship. RIM brings the rabid user base, Palm brings the fresh ideas. On the flipside, RIM's famously set in its ways, and buying a creative company like Palm is no guarantee that Mike Lazaridis and company would actually entrust the boys and girls in Sunnyvale with BlackBerry's future.
- Lenovo. Lenovo is high on the list of companies that seem like they should have a burgeoning global smartphone presence, but inexplicably don't; heck, IBM should've planted the seeds for that in its PC business before Lenovo even took the helm. Be that as it may, Lenovo is stuck here in 2010 without a shred of smartphone credibility outside its native China, and buying Palm would be an awfully quick way to jump-start that effort -- which is probably why the company is allegedly sniffing around. Thing is, we kinda want to see where this LePhone thing goes without Palm getting involved. Given enough time, Lenovo might still be able to build the business on its own -- It's really just a question of whether it wants to.
- HP. Hewlett-Packard inexplicably let the legendary iPAQ brand wither on the vine after years of success -- seriously, these guys (and Compaq before them) practically owned the Microsoft-powered handheld market once upon a time, only to sit back and watch as everyone ate their lunch. Maybe more offensive, though, is the fact that they haven't just discontinued the line altogether -- instead, they've been half-assing their way between releases for the past several years. Buying Palm would be a quick way for HP to get back into the game, and a history of blockbuster acquisitions (Compaq and EDS to name a couple) plus a huge war chest automatically make the company a possible suitor.
- Microsoft. Picture a debt-free Palm with an unlimited budget thanks to another division that practically prints money. What do you want to bet a company like that would have six different devices running webOS on four different US carriers by now? Yeah, well, that's the kind of magic that could happen if Microsoft were to scoop 'em up. Obviously, that's a bit of a pipe dream in light of Redmond's well-thought-out story behind Windows Phone 7 -- but in a not-too-distant world where WinMo 6.5.3 was the best thing they had going, it would've made a whole lot of sense.
- Google. You could argue that webOS brings a certain elegance to the table that Android, in its current form, does not -- and Google would barely feel the hit on its balance sheet. What's more, we're certain Google will eventually be dragged into the Apple / HTC lawsuit, and Palm's patent portfolio would dramatically change that equation. Then again, we still think that Andy Rubin has a master plan, and bringing in Palm to mix things up might be too big of a pill for the dude to swallow.
- Apple. Let's be honest: Palm's chic industrial design and polished operating system mean diddly squat to Apple. But don't you think they'd just love to take that patent portfolio off the market? And let's not even get started on whether Steve Jobs would acquire Palm just to fire Jon Rubinstein -- those kind of fireworks would probably be worth the cost of admission alone.
- Nintendo. This one's been rumored for about a week, although it seems a bit strange. But hey, if you believe the hype that we're entering a Brave New World where all portable devices are all-in-ones capable of making phone calls, organizing your life, and serving up the best gaming experience you've ever encountered, then you might also believe that it makes sense for one of the traditional console companies to invest in a phone maker. Bonus points for a phone maker with an established gaming ecosystem. And hey, if Nintendo can buy a major league baseball team, it can certainly buy Palm, right?
- Dell. Dell's been an on-again, off-again suitor of Palm for a couple years now. Granted, they're seemingly in the "off" phase of that cycle right now since they're finally in the heat of kicking off their own phone line for reals, and word is the company has already passed on the acquisition -- but considering the lukewarm critical reception the Mini 3 has gotten so far, there's no reason to think Mikey D. couldn't still reverse course and just buy someone who knows how to do this right.
- Motorola. It's been years since a Motorola-Palm tie-up was rumored; since then, Moto's been rejuvenated thanks to a fairly well-executed push into Android territory. Moto's no stranger to being a multi-platform company, and there's no reason they couldn't do it again, but we'd rate the odds of this one happening at slim to none. It's not like Moto's swimming in cash right now, and picking up Palm creates more problems than it would solve.
- Nokia. Nokia has been rumored to be buying virtually every company on the face of the planet at one point or another, and Palm's certainly been mentioned in there once or twice. There are countless people who believe that Nokia could benefit from an entirely new operating system not borne of the company's traditional philosophies -- but like RIM, Espoo is probably too proud to give it much consideration. And besides, integration into the company -- both technically and culturally -- would be a nightmare.
- Sony. Another one that's more of a fanboy dream than a potential reality. Like Nintendo, Sony needs to come up with a cohesive convergence strategy that trades on its strength in gaming, and Palm's sitting right there with a gaming-ready platform. And let's be honest, Sony's never done as well with software as it has with hardware -- webOS would radically improve things, and put the company right back into the mobile game. We'd sort of love to see this one happen, but Sony's got enough problems making the PlayStation division play nice with Sony Ericsson -- adding Palm to the mix will just push its efforts back even farther.
I think RIM could use a little smile on their device....seriously...they shouldn't be afraid to loose their government client...cause deep inside, soldiers and politicians are just like us, humans...
No one wants to admit it but the only value left in Palm is their patents. HTC would be the obvious choice. Why would anyone buy an OS that's bleeding marketshare?
I believe Palm will be fine even if they are bought by HTC or any other investment firm. Strong points for Palm?
1) They still hold about 6% if the smartphone market share (Yes it is more than Android).
2) WebOS with some tweaks for enterprise users has the potential to be the enterprise smartphone that the iphone was thought to be but failed. (RIM is still strong in that segment even after so many years of iphone).
3)Patents and patents and patents. Apple sued HTC for patents infringement and got Google to not have multi-touch on the nexus one like the iphone. But they did not or rather COULD not sue Palm since there are as much if not more of palms patents that apple has infringed. Remember Palm is the granddaddy of the smartphone.
They have about 2100 apps in the app catalog and another 700 in home-brew and web-distribution apps. This is building up at a good pace with their developer conference around the corner.
I know that this is much lees than what apple or android has. But how many apps does a person download on an average? About 20. App store size does not mean that all apps are quality apps.
The best part is I can get a palm pre for free on Verizon, buy a $50 extended battery and over-clock it to 720 MHz. FYI there is also an 800Mhz option. This is not just a phone its a micro laptop.
What the engineering team at Palm has achieved is quite amazing considering they went from the archaic treo pro, centro and palmOS to the pre and webOS. Nobody expected that from palm and even though it was a touch screen like the iphone the OS was quite refreshing with the gestures and the cards interface.
Whatever happens Palm and Web OS will be alright. Go play some NFS on your pre.
I don't understand everyone saying HTC. I could understand if PALM was looking to buy a phone manufacturer, but from HTC's standpoint, what do they gain?
TBH I see RIM / Microsoft as much better fits.
WOW, engadget is the second most popular choice here¡ It would be interesting to see how they compare their own product(assuming they buy Palm) with Apple :P
To paraphrase Casey Jones, "HTC & Palm, happily ever after."
While they aren't the "hip and cool" HTC, HP is extremely well positioned to buy Palm. Think about it - HP is not in the Smartphone game at all, but has expressed interest that they would like to be in the game and would like to be a leader. They are a personal computing powerhouse, afterall. Along those lines, they have the capital to actually complete the transaction, and if it fails it will suck, but will not bankrupt the company. Finally, they have the infrastructure in place to keep up Palm Network or whatever it's called and they could put a number of good developers on the team.
HTC for sure that would be amazing!! as engadget already said htc makes amazing hardware and palms' web os is excellent that would be like the Oreo and milk partnership lol but yeah very good idea i completely think htc
Looks like HTC is in the lead by a big margin. I would love to see HTC hardware running PalmOS or WebOS, but I would still want HTC to make Android phones
No Cisco? :(
@weedalin +1
ENGADGET, F*** YEA!
Should have added "Let them fail and go under"
engadget+gizmodo Lam&Topolsky coCeo
Nokia should buy palm so they can swallow up webOS into the meego platform, the less incompatible Linux smartphone OS's on the market the better and being in control of prior rivals is even better yet especially when there's software they could use in there to add market presence to their products with a larger collection of available apps.
Guys, keep in mind Palm's stance on Homebrew; which is why I own a Pre. If someone like Sony picks it up, then they will likely close it all up. In fact, it's likely most everyone would except maybe Google.
Actually, I hope they don't find a buyer, and instead get some marketing oomph! I honestly think they could turn it around with the right marketing!
seriously, if HTC bought palm and put android on the pre, i would buy it in an instant. i would sell my pixi and a kidney to get it. although i do like webos's multitasking better... but android has amazing apps... can't we combine them?
LG would be a good contender... They are nor really established on any smartphone platform yet. They do need a smartphone OS for their more innovative products, like BL40, crystal... Samsung has BADA, Nokia have symbian and Meego.
Qualcomm, they work with a lot of cellphone manufactors, and could spread the platform... put down brew, and spread WebOS instead, and probably more companies would be interested.
HP would be nice to see them back in the mobile market. And WP7 wont cut it for them, if there is not an WP7 professional about to be launched.
Nintendo sound good at first, but then how would they go about to make WebOS compatible with their current device software... they would have to start from scratch, and that would be unfortunate.... but sure, Nintendo mobiles, or perhaps and Nintendo OS for licensing would be nice on the mobile market.
Lenovo could make good use of WebOS, but i think they could do it on their own, without the WebOS, and with their skylight project, or what its called now again, they are on their way... but perhaps WebOS could replace skylight in their computers.
Sony, well probably want to launch a gaming mobile, but as with nintendo, WebOS isnt compatible with their gaming OS, and they would kind of have to start from cratch... On the other hand, they coul really need some help in the software department. And we could see WebOS fit in audio/media players
And purchasing Palm wpuld probably be the first real step in the Sony, Ericsson split. And that split would perhaps be welcome. we Need an Ericsson that make their own mobile phones again, and go for somewhat more rough build... and they could work with TAT for an nice interface..
Palm is really nothing more than a spoiler now. What would probably be best is if one of the companies in the poll and in this article simply bought up webOS and Palm closed its doors and went away.
Why wasn't Intel on the list? WebOS could be merged with the Moblin/Meego platform, and it would give Intel a team with experience building phones.
RIM just bought QNX, so they aren't going to make a play for Palm. They have their new OS, and it's much nicer then Linux.
I'd say Google for the IP, and Dell for the team, if they really want to compete in the cellphone biz.
Microsoft, Google, or Moto.
Lady Gaga should buy Palm.
Why no LG on the list?
They got the money, know how to make great handsets and doesn't have their own PhoneOS, Plus this would be a lot better platform than their all time rival Samsungs Bada.
Google! but only if they open source webOS
According to this post, it looks like Vagina is killing the palm. Although, it might sound funny, but based on the stat, I think there is some truth behind it. It is hilarious :-)
http://awesomedc.com/2010/04/23/vagina-effect-hits-palm/
Anyone who was rooting for HP just had their day made!