Newsmaker: Palm: What PDA problem?

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a converged device. I know lots of people who still like a two-piece solution. They want a very small mobile phone with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi capabilities, as well as a PDA.

How are you responding to the competition from Research In Motion BlackBerry devices?
Blinkhorn: RIM is not a PDA provider. It is providing a highly specialized e-mail service and doing very well at it on a worldwide basis. We are not competing directly with RIM, are not on the same ground that they are competing with. To compare the Treo 650 with the BlackBerry--ours is a full-function PDA with the Palm OS and a legendary user interface. It also has the ability to handle Microsoft files. Then, we gave it phone capabilities, added a camera, SDIO (secure digital input/output) card expansion, and the ability to play your MP3 files.

On top of that, we are not going to give you a proprietary e-mail solution, but rather, here is a whole range of e-mail providers that we will support on this platform. We are very open and nonproprietary with respect to that. The one we've been most successful with in the United States is a company called Good Technology, which provides wireless push e-mail solutions. It's a very different business model compared to RIM.

Are we competing in the same space? Absolutely, but we are competing with a very different value proposition.

Your CEO, Ed Colligan, did not confirm or deny plans about selling Palm devices that could run on Linux or the Windows Mobile platform. Will we see Windows or Linux-based devices soon?
Blinkhorn: We are not able to comment on future products, but we can tell you this--today, we believe that the best OS (operating system) for customers is the Palm OS. Why? If you compare us with any other OS, there is no comparison--this is the most intuitive and easy-to-use OS available, and we think this is the right product for us now.

Does that mean that we do not look at other OSes? Of course you look at what's around and available. On Linux, PalmSource has openly stated that it will port the (Palm) kernel to Linux. Whatever the name of that product is, PalmSource has clearly indicated that it will move to Linux. Its acquisition of MobileSoft in China is part of that strategy.

What about Microsoft? A move to Windows, at least, could help Palm sell more devices to large businesses, many of which use Microsoft software.
Blinkhorn: When we talk about our association with Microsoft, it's probably a little-known fact that we handle Microsoft applications extremely well. So today, under the Palm OS, we can handle Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. It's not as if you can't embrace the Windows world.

And in the e-mail environment today, I can easily connect this device to Exchange ActiveSync. Under Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Exchange ActiveSync is there and we support it absolutely. The announcement of Windows Mobile version 5.0 further enhances the Exchange ActiveSync capabilities--it adds push e-mail for a start. In a way, we are addressing that part of the world already, and this is very important to the enterprise.

Enterprise customers are very interested in the fact that we can support Microsoft applications, and that we can connect to the Outlook environment through Exchange ActiveSync.

To the core of your question, we will appeal to many more customers if we embrace Palm, Windows, Linux, Symbian and everything else, but you can't support everything.

We've put enormous effort behind making the Palm OS the most intuitive interface available. We've got tens of thousands of software developers out there producing wonderful applications.

We also have Prudential Insurance in Malaysia, which has deployed thousands of Treo 600s and Treo 650s, to their sales force. Sitting on top of their wireless e-mail solution is a specially developed application that enables their sales force to work with customers in the field. This is a real example of the power of the Palm OS at work.

More Newsmakers

This is what happens...

... when marketing people are left unchecked.

A name change (or logo change) is a sure sign that senior management has no idea what is going on with their product. "I know! Lets change our name! Our products will fly off the shelves then!"

Most marketing people only feel like they are doing something if they are spending money, designing new letterhead, ordering new business cards, etc.

What a total and complete waste of 30 million dollars.

[clicclic99]

Some actual logic in his comments

As a long time Palm fan, I was expecting the worst in this interview. Marketing speak and all that. But some of it does make sense.

Are cell phones pushing out PDA demand? absofrigginlutely, but there is one huge opp for PDAs - as digital camera assistants.

If you have a digi-camera with an SD card, download all your photos to the LifeDrive, then keep shooting. A 320x480 screen and 4 GB is a lot of storage for most 5 MP .JPG shutterbugs.

I've always said (for 2 years!) and will say it again: an iPod-type Palm - with a 20GB hard drive - will sell like mad. An awesome OS, a hard drive for storage, and a big fat screen are all a match made in heaven. The LifeDrive is crazy-ass close to this summit...

[dowright]

Downfall Pending

You should have spent $30 mm fixing that piece of junk you call a Treo 650. That piece of junk and your waste of $30 mm is the beginning of the end. You are a great short! Oh, what arrogance.

[sanjef]

Dilbert

This whole story has "Dilbert" written all over it. I wholeheartedly agree with the first posting here. Marketing can make or break a company image.

Digression: I can't tell you how many times I sat through a rediculous and/or utterly pointless TV commercial only to imagine that this was presented to a group of intelligent human beings (well, intelligent enough to navigate from their homes to the meeting room and arrive fully clothed)... and these people paid money for the result.