Takeover Rumors Continue to Inflate Palm's Stock

Palm StockShares of Palm Inc today rose more than 10% to close at $18.30. The trading volume was more than five times the usual daily average. Today's rise follows up on the ~8% gain seen two weeks ago. Again the buying is being fueled by rumors that Palm is a takeover target. Last time it was Motorola, this week the latest unsubstantiated rumor is that Nokia is interested.

Article Comments

 (24 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Start a new Comment Down

Ain't this a trip!?

SeldomVisitor @ 3/2/2007 8:09:42 PM # Q
Giggle - no kidding.

But...ya know...don't forget just last October and November!

Luv this game!

==========

Can ya imagine Nokia buying PALM? HA HA HA!

==========

Can ya imagine Motorola buying PALM? HA HA HA!

==========

Gawd, I luv this game!

RE: Ain't this a trip!?
numlock @ 3/2/2007 8:30:36 PM # Q
Someone's making some $erious BANK planting these absurd rumors out there.
Gosh...'all' (*) those 'reports' of a buyout...
hengeem @ 3/2/2007 11:25:43 PM # Q
...are even better than a few planted SeekingAlpha articles!

Giggle.

========

(*) When most of the articles reference the same rumor article elsewhere, it is difficult to say they are different "reports", eh?

RE: Ain't this a trip!?
drw @ 3/3/2007 12:15:34 AM # Q
Maybe SUNW or AMD will buy Palm?

---
David
Reply to this comment

call me stewped :)

vetdoctor @ 3/2/2007 9:25:32 PM # Q
... but y is a Motorola buyout crazy. they take over a poorly managed business and get the best smartphone in the market. 24 months and the Razor-T 1000 will have everyone flushing their iphones dawn the toilet.

Brainiac
RE: call me stewped :)
SeldomVisitor @ 3/3/2007 7:52:59 AM # Q
The bestselling smartphone in the business is...the Q.

Guess who makes that?

So...let me get this straight...Motorola buys a "poorly managed business" (*), gets connection to carriers they already have, inherits some sort of Linux development group they already have, and gets a has-been smartphone line that they've already bypassed with their own existing products.

Yeah, that makes sense!

Buy!

=====

Perhaps yer just stewed?

============

(*) Other than the PalmSource and "street" marketing weirdness I can't personally throw stones at PALM's management for doing anything "wrong"; that's why I quote this particular part to note it was typed but not necessarily my opinion. As far as I've seen they're doing as well as could be expected given what they have to work with.

Reply to this comment

Whatever...

medevilenemy @ 3/2/2007 9:49:21 PM # Q
I wish Palm would start being more active in public... they should really try to clear up things like this before they grow out of control. And they should also try to calm some of the release-related chatter and actually tell the public what their future plans are (not specific releases, but what their strategy is).

Reply to this comment

My prediction ...

LiveFaith @ 3/2/2007 10:12:42 PM # Q
My prediction ...

Colligen, Hawkins, & Dubinsky ..., the Palm trifecta, are all cashing out on Palm, Palm OS, Palmsource, PalmOne, and any other sorta Palm. Hawkins and Dubinsk are now at the point that elementary apps are ready to be written for Numentaware. Colligen dumps the 900 pound gorilla called Palm for about $25/share. All three cash out, and dedicate their efforts and experience to the upcoming brain factory.

Whatever suitor buys the Palm Inc albatross and gets a little now for a lot lost later. The Treo now has great carrier traction worldwide, a great name among the herd, and currently is still a competitive device. All in all it looks great to the clueless investor sheep who read balance sheets and think that Palm Inc will still have the horsepower for strong future growth.

Palm OS is history. The Palm platform has just been gutted by ignorant and greedy fools. They made their bucks and severances and are off to help other companies succeed alike.

The Treo technology advantages are history and there is no longer enough intellectual capital and "fascist vision" remaining at Palm. The revolutionary and wonderful Treo ideal is EOL. The fools who buy them will languish on with a few upgrades, refreshes, and carrier relationship updates. They'll may even eventually get feelin' froggy and attempt major new Treo revolotion. The cancerous "design by committee" and "screamin for profits now" corporate culture will doom it all to failure. The MotoSamsuNokiHTCetc+MSFT juggernaught will absorb the remainder of the current smartfone world and the Treo will be a nice note in tech history.

The trifecta can at least cash out hansomely and look forward to changing the world again. Who knows, the concept seems plausable, their track record speaks for itself, and they are certainly much wiser corporately this time around.

Meanwhile back at PalmInfoCenter, we wait for the final post to take place. The glory days of the Palm economy are winding down. Those glory days extended by the Treo. Nevertheless we are sure to be faced with switching to the dark side and it's many big corporate minions, or finding a new tech ideal altogether. Kinda surreal.

BTW, all the above is true. I'm an analyst.


Pat Horne

RE: My prediction ...
SeldomVisitor @ 3/3/2007 7:50:00 AM # Q
Yeah, then we just move over to the other Ryan sites that, for some unknown but truly weird reason, he hides the existence of.

Go to PIC's home page and along the right-hand side somewhat down near to the bottom you'll find a tiny little "links" box.

Reply to this comment

Jeff Hawkins’s advisor

picjh @ 3/3/2007 1:21:54 AM # Q
Read "Jeff Hawkins’s advisor" on the dialogs. Fun and makes sense

http://thedialogs.org/2007/03/02/jeff-hawkinss-advisor/

Reply to this comment

DELL may be contracting with HTC

SeldomVisitor @ 3/3/2007 7:59:22 AM # Q

-- http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20070303PD200.html

Guess they thought it was cheaper to contract with HTC than to buy PALM.

How surprising.


RE: DELL may be contracting with HTC
Gekko @ 3/3/2007 9:25:09 AM # Q

thanks for posting this. i wonder of this is why DELL stock was up on Friday despite a poor earnings report on thurs and tech and the broad market being down on fri.

this is good news for DELL. they need to pounce on APPLE quickly if they want to have a chance in the handset market. if they wait too long like they did with their mp3 player, their handset business will suffer the same fate. remember the Dell DJ and JAM?? too little, too late = RIP. hopefully Dell has learned his lesson.



RE: DELL may be contracting with HTC
Foo Fighter @ 3/4/2007 10:40:42 PM # Q
Ah, DigiTimes. An oracle of facts and impeccable journalism.

-------------------------------
http://www.pocketfactory.com
http://www.elitistsnob.com
RE: DELL may be contracting with HTC
SeldomVisitor @ 3/5/2007 7:13:08 AM # Q
Somewhat more reliable, however, than what SeekingAlpha allows on ITS web site.

Reply to this comment

I wish it were true

heavyduty @ 3/3/2007 7:29:29 AM # Q
Given Nokia's small market share in the US it could make sense as it would give them a better grip on the US market - kind of what Access did with PalmSource in order to gain access (no pun intended) to the Chinese market.

Either way, I would love to see Symbian on a Treo (as I made clear in a poll made here on PIC a couple of years ago); it's a quite usable, rock solid OS that beats the cr*** out of WM in many respects. Now if they would only add touch screen support for S60 it would almost be ready to go; supposedly Nokia is working on that as we speak. And then there's always UIQ of course which they could licence from SE.

But none of this will happen. Why? Because it's too good to be true.

Palm Vx (a classic) -> Palm 505 (*yawn*) -> Dell Axim (slooow...) -> Palm TE (great) -> Qtek 9090 (great idea, lousy platform) -> Nokia 6630 (a toy) -> iMate SP3i (not bad) -> Nokia 9300 (can't sync notes!!) -> Treo 650 (awesome) -> hw6915 (almost perfect)

Reply to this comment

Nokia, Palm join forces on handhelds

mikecane @ 3/3/2007 4:10:42 PM # Q
Set the Wayback Machine for 1999, Sherman...

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9910/15/nokia.palm.idg/index.html

http://www.palm.com/us/company/pr/1999/nokia1.html

And what came of it?

I wonder if that pack of incompetent eejits who shat out the 770 are the same dimwits who didn't do a thing with PalmOS back then...

Reply to this comment

PALM movements

surfmaniac @ 3/4/2007 11:52:46 PM # Q
All this sound and fury, signifieth absolutely nothing...


(while the idiots among us who stuck w/PALM and believed in it are making some serious money...)

Reply to this comment

WSJ - Palm Explores Options

numlock @ 3/5/2007 1:09:53 AM # Q
Wall Street Journal - Facing More Competition, Palm Explores Options

http://tinyurl.com/239pzf

Reply to this comment

Palm said to be exploring strategic options

Gekko @ 3/5/2007 7:20:05 AM # Q

Palm said to be exploring strategic options
Treo smart-phone maker is working with Morgan Stanley, according to newspaper report; stock soared Friday on speculation Nokia would bid for it.
March 4 2007: 11:23 PM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters/CNNMoney.com) -- Treo smartphone maker Palm Inc. could bring a buyer a decade's worth of digital assistant design and mobile phone know-how, but at a hefty price for a company no longer viewed as cutting edge.

Shares of Palm (Charts) rose 11 percent on Friday to more than $18, their highest level in eight months, on renewed speculation that leading mobile phone maker Nokia (Charts) was eyeing the company.

Palm is working with investment bankers Morgan Stanley to explore its strategic options, which could include a sale, a purchase or an investment by private equity, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

One technology banker who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters Friday there was potential interest from both strategic and private equity buyers in bidding for Palm.

But the banker said the company's stock run-up made it more challenging for private equity to bid for the company versus strategic bidders, who have more opportunities to cut costs.

"The bigger issue is can you make the acquisition work strategically, grow the revenues and turn Palm into a better competitor," analyst Tavis McCourt of Morgan Keegan, & Co. told Reuters.

Shares of Palm have vaulted more than 25 percent this year, boosted by persistent rumors it is a takeover target. The rally has lifted Palm's market capitalization to about $1.7 billion, slightly more than total revenue in its last fiscal year, which ended in May 2006.

Palm has long been tossed around as a target. Speculation increased this week when technology news Web site Unstrung said Nokia or a private equity firm may be the leading candidates to buy Palm at around $20 a share, citing unnamed sources.

A Palm spokeswoman told Reuters the company does not comment on rumors or speculation and is focused on growing its business.

Motorola Inc. (Charts), the No. 2 handset maker, has also been mentioned as a potential buyer for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Palm, which makes personal digital assistants as well as a line of mobile phones that keep track of appointments, data and e-mail.

Several analysts questioned why Nokia or Motorola would need Palm, suggesting computer makers like Hewlett-Packard Co. (Charts) or Dell Inc. (Charts) would be more attracted to Palm as a way to break into the market for wireless services, according to Reuters.

Smaller phone maker High Tech Computer Corp. of Taiwan could expand using the Palm brand, one analyst told Reuters.

CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told Reuters that Palm's intellectual property would be attractive to a rival at the right price, but that the company's current share price was too high to spur bids from rivals.

"I don't see there's anybody right now who'd want to pay that much money to add that portfolio of devices to their own," Wood said.

Real value?
Experts contacted by Reuters were divided over which of Palm's assets - a well-known brand, access to its operating system or its relationship with carriers - attracted suitors.

They also debated whether any of those held real value as Palm has surrendered much of its "cool factor" to devices like Motorola's "Q" smartphone and the highly anticipated iPhone due in June from Apple Inc. (Charts)

"If you were to take the Treo and put it next to some the devices that have been launched, it looks like a brick," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Reuters.

McCourt said Motorola may covet access to the operating system for its own line of smartphones, but suggested that private-equity players might frown on the need to consistently develop new products quickly.

Palm dominated the market for pocket-sized digital organizers, or PDAs, after it launched its original Palm Pilot in 1996. The company's PDA sales dwarfed those of rivals such as HP and Sony.

But PDA demand dwindled early in this decade as similar features were built into cheaper mobile phones. Palm's Treo, which combines a phone with its well-known PDA operating system, lets users surf the Web and exchange e-mail. It eventually became the company's signature product with shipments of 2.3 million units in the last fiscal year.

However, the basic design of Treo is now several years old - eons in a market where Nokia, Motorola, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Ericcson introduce multiple models and ship hundreds of millions annually.

Dulaney said Palm needs to either quickly come out with a new innovative product to replace its aging designs or put itself up for sale to a bigger company.

"This is the fashion business," Dulaney told Reuters. "Dresses don't last for two years. You have to have something new."

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/04/news/companies/palm.options/index.htm?postversion=2007030423



Reply to this comment

Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag

Gekko @ 3/5/2007 10:17:11 PM # Q

5 March 2007 22:18 Home > News > Business > Business News
Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag
By Stephen Foley
Published: 06 March 2007

Palm, the manufacturer of handheld computers whose fortunes have slumped since BlackBerry cornered the corporate market, has put itself up for sale.

The company is using Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, to explore strategic options, which could include a takeover by the mobile phone giant Nokia, the computer manufacturer Dell, or a private-equity buyer.

Palm managers are believed to have been persuaded to abandon their go-it-alone strategy after Apple unveiled its forthcoming iPhone, which will ratchet up the competition in the mobile device market.

The Palm Treo smart phone - which combines mobile telephony with Palm's historic hand-held computer technology - has been holding its own in the consumer market against rivals made by Nokia and Motorola. Potential business-users, however, are addicted to their BlackBerrys, which are made by Palm's rival Research in Motion.

"As of now, Palm is profitable and I don't see why it is not a viable company," said Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co, "but would it be better off if owned by a larger company? That's a tougher one to call. The iPhone is going to be a major competitor to the Treo when it starts to come down in price."

Palm shares have collapsed since their heyday at the start of the decade, when it focused on hand-held personal organisers. This market is still dominated by Palm, but sales have slumped and the company has focused on smartphones. Last year, frustrated with limp profit margins, rebel investors demanded that Palm put itself up for sale.

The stock was up more than 10 per cent last Friday as rumours of a takeover deal swirled around Wall Street, but they succumbed to profit-taking yesterday amid reports that private-equity suitors were struggling to justify a bid at the current price. At a market capitalisation of $2bn (Ł1.04bn), Palm may make a useful acquisition for Dell, which is reportedly looking at a way to crack the market.

Palm said it does not comment on market rumours.

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2332062.ece



RE: Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag
twrock @ 3/5/2007 10:24:36 PM # Q
Palm ... has put itself up for sale.

Palm said it does not comment on market rumours.

I guess they are still having trouble in the marketing department. Seems they can't even figure out how to put themselves up for sale. :)



Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/

RE: Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag
SeldomVisitor @ 3/6/2007 6:29:54 AM # Q
Gotta luv Me-Too Media "journalism" with "facts" totally unsourced, eh?

Be Careful Out There!

RE: Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag
mikecane @ 3/6/2007 10:37:35 AM # Q
Interesting. Buying back the OS was probably for *this*, and not to "control their destiny" in a *product* sense (as Hawkins said in an interview referenced elsewhere on PIC). How much would they have been worth without those rights?

And, geez, I've just really started to notice, but fekkin Crackberries are just about in *everyone's* hands these days. What is that about?! Have the service become that affordable, or am I seeing corporate drones in civvies? How's the Crackberry for PDA functions? Any WP functionality?

These days, I'm the *only* person I see using a PDA, period. Sure, I see Treos but I count those as *phones*. I also *hear* PPC Phones -- I'm constantly hearing the chime sound mine made when it *reset itself*! I hope that's also what's *happening*.

RE: Palm put on the block with $2bn price tag
Surur @ 3/6/2007 11:34:54 AM # Q

PocketPC's dont reset themselves, and dont chime when reset either. Both are POS Treo things.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...
Hey!! I made associate writer at PDA247. Come see my nattering over there!!
www.clieuk.co.uk/wm.shtml

Reply to this comment
Start a New Comment Thread Top

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass:

Latest Comments

  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000