71–80 of 148 posts
I'm an idiot. I've been mulling buying some PALM for a while.
By awhile, I hope you mean less than a month, since they've been in a downward spiral and a month ago were above the $5.70 asking price. 2 months ago they were at $8 and 6 months ago they were at $16 per share. It was a good thing you didn't buy it (unless you purchased December 2008).
Man, that is a big pile of cash. It hardly seems worth it, but if HP wanted to be a player in the mobile space now they are. But Palm has a (very long and storied) software problem, not a hardware problem. HP doesn't have much of a reputation in consumer-grade OS software development so I'm not sure how they will be able succeed where Palm failed.
Software problem? Though Palm Pre and Pixi didnt sell as expected, Palm's WebOS has received pretty decent feedback from all over.
As a result, WebOS has been plagued with performance and reliability problems that they're still trying to address, and that shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with system software development.
They've also had a lot of trouble getting 3rd-party development off the ground.
I have to think that HP could just throw $100m at the problem and build an embedded OS that's far better than Palm, without having to take on the assets of a long-since failed corporation.
That would take them how long? Buying Palm they get that now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That would take them how long? Buying Palm they get that now.
Probably a lot quicker than it will take to save the sinking ship that is Palm. Sure this is a market penetration play, but why? Palm was a failure. PalmOS was a failure. WebOS might be cool, but the damage is done. Google is making good penetration into the mobile market, and they didn't need to buy grandpa to do so.
I have to think that HP could just throw $100m at the problem and build an embedded OS that's far better than Palm, without having to take on the assets of a long-since failed corporation.
HP's getting a hell of a deal here. They're now a major player in the mobile devices market, overnight. Palm has current relationships with the three biggest American cell carriers, plus channels in Canada, France, Germany, UK, and Mexico. Palm also has an extensive patent portfolio, many of which Apple is infringing upon. However, the real prize is WebOS. I just got back from Palm's Developer Day, and their technolo…
"This deal (...) gives HP all the things they need to go head-to-head with Apple." Except for the one thing that makes apple products special: Design.
I have to think that HP could just throw $100m at the problem and build an embedded OS that's far better than Palm, without having to take on the assets of a long-since failed corporation.
By buying Palm HP knows that it's getting a modern mobile OS that's already in use on shipping products. For a company like HP a known quantity is better than spending money on R&D it may not be able to pull off.
HP's getting a hell of a deal here. They're now a major player in the mobile devices market, overnight. Palm has current relationships with the three biggest American cell carriers, plus channels in Canada, France, Germany, UK, and Mexico. Palm also has an extensive patent portfolio, many of which Apple is infringing upon. However, the real prize is WebOS. I just got back from Palm's Developer Day, and their technolo…
I have to think that HP could just throw $100m at the problem and build an embedded OS that's far better than Palm, without having to take on the assets of a long-since failed corporation.
HP's getting a hell of a deal here. They're now a major player in the mobile devices market, overnight. Palm has current relationships with the three biggest American cell carriers, plus channels in Canada, France, Germany, UK, and Mexico. Palm also has an extensive patent portfolio, many of which Apple is infringing upon. However, the real prize is WebOS. I just got back from Palm's Developer Day, and their technolo…
"This deal (...) gives HP all the things they need to go head-to-head with Apple." Except for the one thing that makes apple products special: Design.