“In one day, this past Friday, March 19th, Palm shares collapsed, -29% in one Nasdaq session, closing at $4,” Gassée writes. “The obvious question is why? But a second query immediately comes up: why $4, why not zero?”
“For months, the Wall Street ‘sentiment’ — I didn’t know there was such a thing there — let’s say the calculation was this: ‘Sure, Palm’s cooked but one of the Big Players will buy it,'” Gassée writes. “By ‘cooked’ the haruspices meant Palm had no future as an independent company.”
“Much has been said of Palm’s rebirth through its new operating system, the WebOS,” Gassée writes. “The problem with that line of thinking is the market has spoken, the product hasn’t done well against its competition: Android, free and rising, muscular players such as RIM (Blackberry), Nokia, Microsoft, perhaps, and Apple. Who, in their right mind, would want to buy into the smartphone OS race now?”
Gassée writes, “I’m afraid Palm will be twisting in the wind for a short while and then call it a day.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Palm’s Pre dog and pony show is nothing more than takeover bait. They simply do not have the resources necessary to create another mobile platform, especially one that is superfluous. If Palm’s Pre is not a ruse, then those responsible are kidding themselves.” – MacDailyNews Take, January 21, 2009, just after beleaguered Palm unveiled their Palm Pre and webOS.
I can see Palm’s blood on the iPhone’s touchscreen…
So, the real question: Is Jon Rubinstein an Apple plant?
See, you guys don’t get it. These PC guys are not going to just figure it out! They’re not going to just walk in. Palm is just sand bagging it. They’re just coaxing everyone else a little farther into their trap before they spring it. No, really, just ask Jon. And besides that, Jon has another winning strategy. Margaritas on the beach.
Palm bought Jean-Louisse BeOS.
Palm had commercials presented during the NCAA basketball tournament yesterday. The commercial ended with this phrase written on the screen: “Life moves fast, don’t miss it.” How true for Palm!
Palm should have sold the BeOS to the community when we were willing to purchase it.
Whom the gods would destroy they first make proud.
Dell, Palm, and–soon–Google. All victims of hubris and fate.
Stay humble, boys. Stay humble, for the gods are listening.
A brown elongated fecial sausage swirling counterclockwise in the shitery
I guess they were just kidding themselves.
I wonder if the devotion to the WebOS from the fanboys of the Pre is akin to the Amiga. Think about talk to an Amiga fan and they we tell you they were the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I wonder if history is repeating itself here.
Apple’s message to HTC has changed the landscape. No one wants to risk being in the same position with Palm’s tech (as HTC). Apple has not sued Palm because Palm is not a threat and may likely collapse. But if a bigger company bought Palm and tried to rebrand their Web OS, wouldn’t you (as that new company) be wondering, how secure is this tech and how much is in potential patent violation? I would guess there are real questions like these.
Plus, apart from Nokia, the other players already have something in the works that appears viable. Palm has proven not to be viable. Why would you buy it? It will forever be seen as a failed Palm OS. Just like BeOS.
Why bother listing RIM, Nokia, Microsoft….. The iPhone is the main reason that all these guys are failing and scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off. Credit to iPhone and none of those copycats.
Haruspicy is the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. Just in case anyone else was wondering.
@Zx
“A brown elongated fecial sausage swirling counterclockwise in the shitery”
For a second there I thought you were talking about the Zune.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Palm is definitely doomed as a independent company as it exists today. That’s a given… or is it?
Palm could be merged or purchased with/by another company and may include Google or Apple. Certainly not for the technology but for Palm’s intellectual property (IP) and patents. Indeed, their IPs predates Google and Apple’s phone developments, and can reinforce their respective (Google’s via HTC) litigation positions.
Another alternative is a Chinese mobile telecom may buy everything in a fire sale and make it a smartphone for the domestic market only.
So, at for $4 a share? No. At $2 a share? Hmm…
This man is an authority on running a company into the ground. I’d listen to him.
Google will buy them. Mark my words.
Once the price hits $0, I’m gonna buy it up. Is the world ready for the HarryPalm?
I had a thought… (I know, pace myself
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> Palm bought BeOS and killed it (many believe it was part of a “deal” brokered by their then new mobile OS partner -Microsoft- who desperately wanted BeOS off the market (they had routinely strong armed manufacturers to prevent BeOS from being offered as an OEM alternative to Windows))
BeOS literally tore windows apart in terms of efficiency, speed, boot time and size (both the OS and app footprints were tiny) Perfect for todays netbooks (I think part of the deal palm made with MS was that they would never use the OS but instead would burry it)
BeOS would absolutely fly on even the existing generation of intel Atom powered netbooks (you could easily fit the OS and dozens (and dozens) of apps into a couple GB, so it would easily fit on even entry level 4GB SSD net-books. Modernize the core OS services and fix the fragile base class problems of the SDK (without killing the existing codebase
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> and you might have a viable competitor to the iPad. (while net-books do represent old technology, with a decently efficient OS they would at least have a fighting chance, with that plodding turd of an OS (Win7) it will just be a bloodbath)
Ah, who am I kidding, MS will never let it happen. they have to keep their customers chained to NT kernel forever (I wager that offering BeOS as an alternative OS on netbooks would reduce windows to a bit player in that market within a year)
Ah, perhaps it is better, iPad will kill the “netbook” off within two years (perhaps sooner) and customers will be (for the most part) better off for it.
And Amiga OS is going to make a comeback too! Just you wait and see!