January 15th, 2009
Should Dell buy Palm?
Dell is allegedly pondering a smartphone, but a better move may be to merely buy Palm now that it illustrated that its Pre and WebOS are the real deal.
A Dell-Palm combination is floated by Bob Faulkner, a contributor to RealMoney.com. In an open letter to Michael Dell, Faulkner makes his case (you can also find via Yahoo Finance):
With the advent of the Apple iPhone in 2007 and its subsequent imitators, it has become apparent that we’re seeing “computing” evolve once again. Phones are no longer just something you speak into. They have transformed into a portal for taking the Internet wherever you go.
I realize that you have been busy the last couple of years trying to right the good ship Dell, but your lack of participation in this market segment will hurt the company going forward. There is another rumor making the rounds that you’ve been feeling out suppliers in an attempt to enter the market at some point. While, if this is true, I’m glad to see some movement on this front, I fear that this approach is doomed to fail.
Let me be so bold as to suggest that there is a ready-made solution for you that I recommended nearly two years ago: Dell should buy Palm. Think about it, Michael — it’s a match made in heaven. You get a solution, and they get the stability, influence and purchasing power of Dell.
Faulkner further argues that Dell could help Palm out with its two biggest hurdles. First, Palm needs to attract software developers and Dell’s heft can help (with a few financial incentives of course). In addition, Palm needs distribution. Dell has that in spades.
Add it up and the Dell-Palm combination makes some real sense. Thoughts?
More reading:
- Would you buy a Dell smartphone?
- CES 2009: Palm announces the Palm Web OS and the Palm Pre device
- Palm Pre sales guesstimate: 1.5 million
- Palm gets in game but doesn’t change it; Reality lurks
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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