Smartphone maker Palm up for sale
submitted by markodonoghue on 15 April 2010
Palm is in the market for a buyer, due to the sales of its latest smartphones fail to catch up with rivals such as Apple and BlackBerry.
They used to be a popular and upcoming company but its latest offerings, the Palm Pre and the Pixi, have not sold as well as they hoped. Computer firms such as Dell and HP could be among potential bidders. It could provide them with a quick way into the mobile market.
Palm hired bankers last week to explore options for the firm, including a sale of the company. The Palm Pre was launched last year to much hype and was seen as a potential 'iPhone killer' but sales figures have been very disappointing.
Its webOS operating system was praised for its functionality and usability. But it is the Palm brand that will really interest buyers.
"Palm's webOS has only been in the market for a short time and is somewhat unproven but there is a residue of fondness for Palm as a brand, especially in the US," said Mr Cripps.
Geoff Blabler, an analyst at research firm CCS Insight, believes the operating system is a big asset for Palm but is not sure that it alone can sell the company to potential bidders. "The challenge for Palm is finding a buyer prepared to pay a premium given the abundance of alternative platforms and widespread adoption of Android," he said.
In the past six months, the company's stock has dropped 69%. It has a stock market value of $870m (£563m). Palm's shares rose more than 17% on the reports of a possible sale.
Whoever buys the company will be sure to add improvements to the company's profile and products. Thing is, there is still a huge gap between Apple and BlackBerry and everything else behind them.
Submitted by:
Mark O'Donoghue
Associated Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8618001.stm
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