I know this may seem somewhat of a moot letter at this time, but let’s just think for a minute that Palm can actually survive the next six months without a radical shift in corporate policy, or a takeover. With Palm’s demise all but being written in stone across the Internet and various news markets (financial, tech, etc.), the fact of the matter is that the company, as of right now, looks more and more like a dying beast every minute that passes.
Palm has, of late, expressed an interest in staying independent from other companies, whether it be through takeover/buyout, merger, whatever. But, Palm has also stated that they would be open to licensing the powerful WebOS platform to other manufacturers. This would be a radical shift in the company’s new policy. It worked for Palm OS, but even, the company nearly collapsed just a few years ago.
In 2009, the company showed promise of surviving indefinitely. Palm unveiled a powerful and innovative operating system, one that managed multiple tasks effortlessly, amongst other things, and an all new handset for this platform to debut on, the Pre. Unfortunately, after some manufacturing defects/QA failures, the product was seen as new and “hip”, but not as structurally sound as other had hoped. While the Pixi helped this somewhat, with its smaller yet sturdy form factor, the fact is the Palm product line of 2009 barely stood up to the competition it faced last year. To top it off, here we are, more than a third of the way through 2010, and all we have had is small, minor revisions to the hardware that was demonstrated a year ago. A company, especially one as fragile as Palm, cannot survive like this.
I’m afraid that the next hardware introduction will, to be blunt, not satisfy the needs of the consumers or the critics. I’m afraid Palm designed hardware for the current generation, which, if and when a new iPhone or Android device is unveiled, will once again be a whole step behind the “latest and greatest”.
Frankly, outside of software, Palm is no longer innovative. As I have stated numerous times in this letter alone, WebOS is a powerful and capable platform, it’s just the hardware is not up to par with it. Consumers like devices that are elegant and modern, not hunks of black plastic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure your industrial designers are competent, it’s just they haven’t exactly caught up to the new area of smartphone appeal.
But there is hope. This hope does not come in the form of a takeover, or a WebOS licensing deal (more on this later). In comes from within the company itself. It is quite sad when several executive staff members just get up and leave, and stock options are paid out to keep others around. Luckily, you still have a company left, and one that has shown it is ready to survive and take on the behemoth market they’re in.
The first thing to do is start from scratch on hardware. Forget the Pre, forget the Pixi. Yes, they had some cool features (fast processor (for 2009…), a wonderful keyboard on your lower end device, Wi-Fi), but you need to build a device that encompasses everything a consumer looks for: elegant on the outside, powerful and capable on the inside, and a wonderful platform to top it all off.
Licensing WebOS is not the solution. Why? It will all but certainly remove you from the hardware game, creating a massive deficit in your bottom line. Let’s take this scenario: you decide to license WebOS to a company like HTC, who already has a major foothold in both the Android and Windows Mobile markets. Now, imagine a device such as the HTC Incredible running WebOS. How would you expect a device like the Pre to match up against that? It would be near impossible to set yourselves up in a way that will allow you to remain profitable not just on the software end, but on the hardware one as well.
There is still time to save Palm. It is not time to give up. After all, you’ve been in this situation before. And guess what, you made it out alive and in the best shape in years. It’s time to do it again.
Thank You,
Connor M. Wilkins