“Rumors circulated late last week on Wall Street that Palm Inc. was putting itself up for sale, which one industry analyst said would be a good idea,” David Haskin reports for Computerworld.
“‘I think it would be a good thing if they were purchased,’ said Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney. ‘They’re doing well now, but they need more capital to do the things they need to do.’ The rumors late last week drove up the price of Palm stock. Palm spokeswoman Marlene Somsak said late Monday that the company does not comment on rumors and speculation,” Haskin reports.
Haskin reports, “Apple might benefit from acquiring Palm, [Dulaney] said. ‘What they’d get from Palm is carrier knowledge. But they’d have to pick up a whole OS.’ By that, he said he meant that Apple is getting into the phone business with its much-ballyhooed iPhone, based on Apple’s OS X, but some believe that the mobile phone business presents complications that Apple may not have considered.”
MacDailyNews Take: “Some” = Palm et al. Anyone who believes Apple has not considered all “complications” that the mobile phone business presents should send in their Special Olympics entry posthaste.
Haskin continues, “Also, Palm’s Windows Mobile Treos would not necessarily be a good addition, given Apple’s culture and traditional antipathy to Microsoft’s platform.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple certainly does have a traditional antipathy to tasteless, counterintuitive, mediocre-and-worse products.
Haskin continues, “In any case, Dulaney said that now was a good time for Palm to be looking for a buyer. ‘It would be a good thing,’ he said. ‘They’re profitable and there are some positive things there that won’t be positive for all that long.'”
Full article here.
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The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
How Steve Jobs played hardball in iPhone deal with AT&T (Cingular) – February 17, 2007
RUMOR: Apple iPhone 4GB for $299, 8GB for $399 with 2-year AT&T contract? – February 16, 2007
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RIM co-CEO doesn’t see threat from Apple’s iPhone – February 12, 2007
How Verizon blew the Apple iPhone deal – January 29, 2007
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Rogers to offer Apple iPhone exclusively in Canada – January 25, 2007
FUD Alert: Apple iPhone ‘isn’t very practical’ and a ‘security risk’ for business – January 24, 2007
Research in Motion downgraded due to Apple iPhone competition – January 23, 2007
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Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
eWeek: Apple iPhone fallout: ‘They must be crying in Nokia-ville and other telephony towns today’ – January 10, 2007
Jefferies downgrades Motorola on fears of market share loss to Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007
Ain’t gonna happen
Anyone who believes Apple has not considered all “complications” that the mobile phone business presents should send in their Special Olympics entry posthaste.
Burn!
“…there are some positive things there that won’t be positive for all that long.”
So why would Apple want to buy them?!
Apple buys Palm, then transitions all Palm devices over to OS X…
That was pathetic reading.
Yeah, burn, as in Burn in Hell.
I think it’s just great that the MDN editors don’t have children who take a short bus to school. What great fortune. But is it really necessary to make fun of mentally handicapped in order to make your point? It just makes you look jerky.
Palm sees the iPod take over 85% of the market, and decides it does not want to stick around to see the same thing happen to the phone market. Apple will not take 85% of course, but it is conceivable that they could take 20% at introduction of the iPhone, and that would be a big twinkie.
After Apple announced the iPhone won’t ship until June and made no mention of PDA/productivity applications, I got a Treo 700p. Too bad. If Apple comes out with a comparable package with the iPhone, I’ll have to wait longer to get it. Of course, it’s also too bad it is Cingular only – as so many others have already said.
Perhaps Microshaft will acquire them. This would be the expected response to counter Apple’s entry into the mobile communications device market place. In any case, it would put all the crap in one basket.
“and there are some positive things there that won’t be positive for all that long.”
translation: “Once the iPhone hits the market, Palm is toast.”
The article is of course focusing on what’s best for Palm. If Apple were to buy Palm, it would be soooo very good for Palm. But buying Palm would bring nothing to Apple.
Magic word: months — Palm has months to find a buyer before the death spiral begins.
I think they see the writing on the wall and wanna get out while the getting is good. I think the iPhone has em wearing brown underwear to avoid embarrassment.
Apple should buy Palm, just to make sure Mediocreshit doesn’t.
MW: nuclear a.k.a. Nuke ’em!
Apple has a starting strategy in place already:
Win 1% of marketshare. Not 10, 20 or 50%. Just 1%
To do that, they don’t need Palm.In fact, Microsoft would gain more out of buying Palm. Then, they can brag about the new ZunePhone and their marketshare, while Apple enters quietly but surely.
I don’t know, just talking here….
I’m a long time Palm user, but Palm has shot itself in the feet so many times, it’s wheelchair ridden. I’d love to find a real alternative, but it looks like the days of the PDA are ending.
Palm has passed itself around like a choir boy at a priest convention.
Palm it’s had NO management or ownership continuity and NO technological follow through… like releasing their modern OS 6, which died from neglect. Instead, they caved and started using WinCE.
Apple would have little or nothing to gain by buying a company like Palm.
.mac is out!!! pending update???
There is no obvious business reason why Apple should buy Palm – FSCK’EM!!!
Napster plus Palm at one low price? What a deal!
I know just what to do with Palm although it may put hair on it.
Seems like it would be smart for microsoft to buy them, The Treo could be renamed Zune or sumthin……
He suggests that Apple buy Palm, while it is still worth something, because soon, Apple, with it’s new iPhone, will put Palm out of business and then Palm will not be worth much.
Does he read what he writes?
Apple ain’t gonna buy Palm. Mark my words…
Microsoft might be interested in adding to their failures, though…
Some Jung Gai:
“I think it’s just great that the MDN editors don’t have children who take a short bus to school. What great fortune. But is it really necessary to make fun of mentally handicapped in order to make your point? It just makes you look jerky.”
Please spare me the nausiating politically correct platitudes.
Sum Jung Gai,
MDN wasn’t making fun of Special Olympians. If you can’t see that, you probably should send in your Special Olympics entry posthaste.
I think it would be a good idea for Apple to buy Palm.
That way they can start expanding a mobile OSX. We’re starting to see it (obviously) in the iPhone, but what about an entire Apple PDA? The iPhone is nice, but certainly not a full-fledged PDA.
I’ve always wanted an Apple PDA, and have not bought a current PDA for that reason. I think it would be a hit.
Twilightmoon and Short Bus Whatever,
get stuffed.
Sum Jung Gai is right. It WAS a tasteless remark – MDN should edit it away.
There’s overboard knee-jerk political correctness, and then there’s simple consideration for other human beings.