Introduction
Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the provision of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to IDC (December 2000), It develops and markets smart phones. Some of the products offered by Palm, Inc. are the Pre and Pixi wireless devices. Both of these run on the company’s webOS mobile operating system software (Palm, Inc., 2010).
WebOS enables the users to access wireless internet and touch screen interface. Palm, Inc. has established partnerships with wireless carriers such as AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless, through which it sells its products. Most of the company’s products are from the US, but they are sold all over the world. Individual users and business customers both benefit from Palm’s mobile products. Palm Pre, Treo and Centro smartphones, software, services and accessories are also some of the company’s products. It has two product lines handheld computers and smartphones (Patel, N., 2010).
Current Mission and Vision
The company’s vision is to enable people to better manage extraordinary lives on the go by providing them with mobile products that are instinctive, and at the same time powerful.
Current Strategy
Their goal is to facilitate true implementation of technology through their products. They innovate. They create and define categories. The company promises to provide their customers to with more, as well as better; faster, and at the same time more useful products.
Major Strengths of company that are basis of G&O
Brand name
Palm was the first firm to start producing the smart phones, it has since build a name for itself through its product line that ranges from
Intellectual property
Palm has a pool of highly innovative and intellectual employees who ensure its continuous innovations.They have expertise that enable them to produce smart phones that are very popular among the customers and especially in the US.
Hardware and software compatibility
The fact that their products run on their operating system makes them easy to be used by the customers. This is also convenient because they will rarely be conflict of the OS and the handset making it have problems (The CBS Interactive Business Network, 2010).
Focused products
Palm has focused on handsets and the their operating system and this has made it to be able to build a brand name for itself and also to develop its focus through innovations
Major Weaknesses that are planned for improvement or to compensate
Palm has been undergoing through a lot of issues from financial problems to failure of some of its products. This has made it rather unstable and this is its major weakness.
Inability to differentiate from competitors
Palms products and its major rivals do not have major difference from their products. There are no outstanding features that palms products have that their competitors should have; this is why the rivalry is very tough to overcome for palm.
Competitive Analysis
Major competitors
Palm competes in three segments: the handheld device, wireless service markets and OS software. Palm’s handheld computing device products compete with a variety of smart phone devices, including sub-notebook computers, keyboard-based devices and pagers.
The company’s main competitors in the handheld segment included Compaq, Handspring, and Research in Motion (RIM).
Competitors in the wireless services include EarthLink, RIM, and others like Sony, which offered Internet services. Palm’s wireless also competes indirectly with other wireless access providers, dedicated
The Palms OS also compete with operating systems from Microsoft, and systems based on Linux. Microsoft is aggressive in its efforts to assist its licensees in marketing handhelds that used Microsoft’s OS.
Product line
Palm Pilot, introduced in 1996, was the company’s first product was but it became the world’s most bet personal technology.
Three years later in 1999, the Palm V was introduced.
Later, a creation of the smartphone which combined mobile phone with email, an organizer, messaging and web access, called the Treo phone, was introduced. Users were now able to organize and simplify their business and personal lives.
The next product on the line, which had features like mobile email, IM and the web, was the Centro phone.
Palm Pre is the first phone built on the Palm webOS platform, which enables one to access all the information one needs very easily. Palm III, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten are some of the company’s previous products.
Competitive Strategy
The company’s main strategy is that it licensed the platform of handheld devices to other players in the industry, giving Palm competitive advantage over its competitors. Handspring and Symbol extended their Palm OS licenses until 2009 and 2005.Palm has also upheld its innovation strategy in order to continue to improve their product line and keep at par with its competitors (Hewlett-Packard Development Company, 2010).
Opportunities or openings
These are the possibilities that might become available from competitors
Partnerships
Palm can do partnership with its competitor’s l in the mobile industry so that its operating system can be used in their mobile phones.
Licensing
It can also license with different competitors and this way they will be able to gain stability.
Strategic Alliances
It can also have strategic alliances with its rivals in any of its operating areas so as to have synergic advantage.
Threats: possible future changes and challenges from competition
Threats
There are many devices that act like Pocket PCs (Microsoft) Microsoft is now challenging Palm in handheld software, with Windows CE and Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition products.
High rivalry
Palm faces a lot of rivalry from big companies like Microsoft and Nokia who have a history in electronics and there are also other small companies that are still unstable like palm that are still building a name for themselves.
New Entrants
One of the threats that Palm is facing is that of new competitors whose products have new features and functionality. Another threat is the introduction of PDA features into mobile phones, which makes part of the industry. This will make it easy for mobile companies like Nokia to dominate the industry.
General Environmental Analysis
General Opportunities
The industry is still changing and currently no company is standing on stable ground. The innovations are still continuing and so the success and competitiveness of a company depends on a companies innovations and how the customers respond to it.
The industry players have the opportunity to shape their industry, this is because it is a new area and the customers have not really decided what is best for them so it is an opportunity for the companies to experiment and come up with the best product that will give them a stable ground and a competitive edge.
The industry has a big base of customers who vary from teenagers to businessmen and also corporations. This gives the players to differentiate their products and one can also decide to focus on one market segment
General Threats
Changing technology
The technology industry is the most dynamic industry and so without continuous innovation a company can easily collapse like now the handheld gadgets are being threaded by the tablets this means that if they do not develop tablets they will be out of the market.
Substitutes
The substitutes are:
PDAs
Palms handheld products are under threat from pocket p.c. s that run on OS. This threat comes form companies like Microsoft who produce p.c. s and also operating systems and in this way this pocket p.c. s can easily be substitutes for the palms products
Other products
Incorporating PDA into electronic gadgets by the electronic companies act as a substitute for palm’s handheld. This is because these electronics make the customers feel like they don’t need to have a separate handheld gadget when they can have all the features in one electronic equipment.
Customers
The customers have a big bargaining power and this is because the products of palms are same with their competitors and so there is nothing that makes the customers to be attracted and loyal because they can easily get substitutes for the products.
Recommendations
Based on the SWOT, Palm Inc is experiencing tough challenges. In order to keep up, Palm, Inc has to change its strategy and consider its position in the market.
Based on my analysis, Palm should focus on building and expanding its operating system, and leave the PDA hardware business. Sony Corporation’s recent announcement of its acquisition of an equity position in the company is a clear indication of Sony’s plans to expand its business and collaboration with Palm. Palm should also reduce the competition with the rivals who include, Nokia, Blackberry and Microsoft. This can be done by increasing their innovation; they will be able to reduce the rivalry gap. They can also use cost competitiveness through ensuring that they reduce their costs and hence reduce their prices so as to have a competitive advantage over its competitors. This will also enable them to gain a good market share and give them the stability they need in the industry.
References
Hewlett-Packard Development Company. (2010). HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion. Web.
Palm, Inc. (2010). Company website. Web.
Patel, N. (2010). HP bought Palm after a five-company bidding war. Web.
The CBS Interactive Business Network, 2010. Article: BNET: Company News & Executive Profiles – PALM. Web.