The
PDAPhone news services are all reporting today on
Palm's reported net loss of $841,000 for the quarter ending August 31, 2007. There have been various different reasons quoted for this, but the most common is that the media darling... the
Apple iPhone... is to blame. Is that the case, or is it something else? I think that the
iPhone is probably a contributing factor, but if it weren't Apple, it could have easily been someone else.
I think that
Palms real issue is innovation.
Palm, through its own developments and those of its acquisition of Handspring, pretty much invented the
PDAPhone segment. If you don't give them credit for inventing it, you at least have to give them credit for helping to bring it to the mainsteam. The
Treo 600 a few years back really brought about a new ease of use factor in a
PDAPhone and got us out of the "Model T" error of enthusiasts and geeks, and had soccer moms and business people joining the
PDAPhone ranks.
But model after model has rolled out the
Palm door with more and more refinement... smoother, slicker, and a few more bells and whistles... but where's the beef? The underlying
Palm OS is largely unchanged from when it was introduced with the
Palm Pilot... and its lack of substantive multi-tasking is a limiting factor. Now in an effort to squeeze the last ounce of value from the aging
Palm OS, they introduced a landmark sub $100
PDAPhone to the market. But the analysts believe that this will further hurt
Palm's market performance because the devices are going to likely cut into Treo sales.
I believe that
Palm can still shine in this market, but they've got to get their new OS out in order to bring some new innovative capabilities to the market. The
iPhone captured the hearts of the media because it looks sexy, and does bring some new things to the table. Its user interface and browser technology are certainly innovative and have a wow factor.
Palm needs to deliver their new OS soon, and it needs to work when it gets here. I am looking forward to that happening... because competition breeds innovation, and that's good for all of us.
What do you think?
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