Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Palm To Buy Handspring
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THE COMPETITION" @ 05:03 AM
http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=1407&showComments=true
"In a shocking announcement this morning, Palm has acquired Handspring. Handspring has been fighting for survival and Palm has been trying to keep a step ahead of Sony. Now they'll fight together, the deal will be finalized this fall. The Palm board also gave the final approval for the PalmSource spin-off."
Actually, the board has approved the purchase of Handspring, it hasn't happened yet. According to this CNNMoney report, the deal won't happen until this fall and will be after PalmSource has been spun off. The spin off was also approved late yesterday.
Shown are Ed Colligan, Handspring president and COO; Todd Bradley, Palm Solutions Group president and CEO; and Jeff Hawkins, Handspring founder, chairman and chief product officer.
This will leave two PalmOS vendors in the consumer/business market, Palm and Sony. Jeff Hawkins, the original founder of Palm and often called the father of the modern day PDA, will become the Chief Technology Officer for the merged company. Hawkins left Palm several years ago to start Handpring. Ed Colligan, Handspring's President and Chief Operating Officer will lead the smartphone division of Palm Solutions. Donna Dubinsky, Handspring's Chief Executive Officer, will join the merged company's board. Both Palm and Handspring have been meandering around for the past few years losing share to both Pocket PC rivals and PalmOS licensee Sony. Perhaps this will allow them to solidify their base. Palm and Handspring often competed with each other aggressively on price, doing little to gain marketshare but doing much to cut margins.
There are more details in the joint Palm/Handspring press release.
"In a shocking announcement this morning, Palm has acquired Handspring. Handspring has been fighting for survival and Palm has been trying to keep a step ahead of Sony. Now they'll fight together, the deal will be finalized this fall. The Palm board also gave the final approval for the PalmSource spin-off."
Actually, the board has approved the purchase of Handspring, it hasn't happened yet. According to this CNNMoney report, the deal won't happen until this fall and will be after PalmSource has been spun off. The spin off was also approved late yesterday.
Shown are Ed Colligan, Handspring president and COO; Todd Bradley, Palm Solutions Group president and CEO; and Jeff Hawkins, Handspring founder, chairman and chief product officer.
This will leave two PalmOS vendors in the consumer/business market, Palm and Sony. Jeff Hawkins, the original founder of Palm and often called the father of the modern day PDA, will become the Chief Technology Officer for the merged company. Hawkins left Palm several years ago to start Handpring. Ed Colligan, Handspring's President and Chief Operating Officer will lead the smartphone division of Palm Solutions. Donna Dubinsky, Handspring's Chief Executive Officer, will join the merged company's board. Both Palm and Handspring have been meandering around for the past few years losing share to both Pocket PC rivals and PalmOS licensee Sony. Perhaps this will allow them to solidify their base. Palm and Handspring often competed with each other aggressively on price, doing little to gain marketshare but doing much to cut margins.
There are more details in the joint Palm/Handspring press release.
