Is Palm an acquisition target with WebOS/Pre?

[Presprit]

While Palm has produced a great device and an operating system along which it can build an entire environment just like Apple, does it have staying power and enough resources to pull it off ? Private equity has deep pockets to pump in more money to let Palm compete with Apple. The question is will they? PE

I think Palm is now an attractive acquisition target for companies like:

1 Cisco (they bought Flip recently, a class of device threatened likes of Apple's Video offering on iPhone). Cisco has been slowing making moves in to consumer space. It is selling wifi routers and has invested in Flip. It's SA division's main revenues come from selling settop boxes to Cable Companies.

Cisco is as great a marketing company as Apple. Not in consumer space.

2. HP. They long being in consumer space. They are number one market share in worldwide PC market. They can migrate WebOS to netbooks and their other product lines. WebOS/Pre allows HP a great way to enter a booming market.

3. Dell - I hope not. It is struggling and has always made mess of its non-PC related consumer forays in past. Dell only knows how to sell low margin, high volume manufactured devices. Doesn't have history of in-house innovation, especially how to manage something like WebOS

4. Motorola - They don't have anything comparable to WebOS. But they know the cell phone market.

5. Amazon - a wild card. They recently released Kindle, a first foray by it in hardware? Plus iphone threatens Kindle. But then Amazon has everything that it needs to compete with Apple except an end-user device. It can very quickly build an ecosystem for Apple.

Also foreign companies like Lenovo and other big Chinese companies. I can't see Japanese companies making a bid for Palm, though companies like NEC, Hitachi, Panasonic, and others sale advance cellphones only in Japanese market. Neither do I see Koreans - LG and Samsung doing so. Google won't pickup Palm either.

Sony-Ericsson from Europe is other likely manufacturer who can benefit from Palm acquisition.

I think Palm is best-fit for Cisco, HP and Amazon.

Google if they drop their arrogance, can pick Palm and instantly enter a new market. It is one other company with brand to match Apple and compete with it on equal footing. They will have to either kill Android or donate it to open source community to carry on the work.

Any other companies you can think of (especially non-USA ones)?

Price tag? I would say somewhere around $2B today. If Pre picks up steam it could easily goto $3B to $5B

[ronlongo]

I've often thought to myself that RIM would be a good possibility as a buyer for Palm. RIM's OS seems antiquated like PalmOS. It would be a way for them to get a new OS without having to go through several years of development.

Then again, I haven't really played with a Storm. Does it use a new OS?

[sleepysurf]

I agree a RIM Palm merger would be the cats meow, and a more formidable platform to compete with Apple, Microsoft, Google, and others.

[notabun]

Originally Posted by ronlongo

I've often thought to myself that RIM would be a good possibility as a buyer for Palm. RIM's OS seems antiquated like PalmOS. It would be a way for them to get a new OS without having to go through several years of development.

Then again, I haven't really played with a Storm. Does it use a new OS?

RIM is in development of OS 5, which I believe is going to be universal for all of their new phones going forward so they don't have to support multiple versions. I don't think it looks much different though. What RIM needs to do is buy a browser that's built on webkit or develop one that uses it themselves. I f'n hate the BB Browser.