Comments on: Dell and Palm – Who needs whom?

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:57:50 +0000

For years buying Dell has meant a bit of a break for the corporate checkbook but generally spotty engineering and a bit too many calls to support. They’re no HP when it comes to design and quality. In fact, they’re no Palm, engineering-wise.A lot of consumers want “cheap.” But the bulk of serious consumers and business users want quality and performance. A brand they can depend on. HP has eclipsed Dell in sales and it’s always been better from an engineering standpoint.Palm builds great products and a top CEO. Palm/Dell would be a complete turn-off to consumers. Hopefully Jon Rubinstein sees the limitations of being Dell and looks for a suitor with an engineering name and culture more aligned with Palm’s.

By: Joop deBruin

Joop deBruin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:45:55 +0000

I am a long time Palm fan and love the Pre. However if Dell buys Palm, then they can immediately count me as a permanently lost customer. I HATE DELL! I’d love to see HP buy Palm, HP is a big supporter of all things Linux, and the webOS would be a perfect fit at HP.Dell = Fetid Smell

By: Wayne Norman

Wayne Norman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:34:48 +0000

The acquisition of Palm by Dell would be of great benefit for Dell, however, one of the major issues is ego versus ego – Michael Dell versus Jonathan Rubinstein. Jonathan Rubinstein would most likely appreciate the opportunity to head Dell, just to show Steve Jobs he is of equal ability. He would have to accept being second in command initially, but really running the show, just as he was at Palm. The question is will Michael Dell be willing to let his ego step aside and allow someone else to take credit for the success of the new Dell under Jonathan Rubinstein?Is the acquisition of Motorola an option? What products do they have in the pipeline? Have they switched their strategy to serve the low end market so much so that they have abandoned Smart Phone Development?If Motorola mobile can be acquired with a limited attachment of debt, then Motorola could make sense if they have smartphone and netbook products in development.There is also the question as to whether Palm violated any Apple patents in developing the Pre. Apple made it clear they would not tolerate infringement.The future of computing is hand-held devices, including smart phones, however, as the competition increases and LG, Samsung, and RIMM increase their marketing, margins will decrease, to the point where only the leanest will survive.Apple has the advantage of a “Cult Like” following so their margins will remain better than average, however, Dell and HP will always be fighting for market share and margin.Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs. The market has shown displeasure with Steve Jobs not making some sort of appearance at WWDC and are openly worried about his health.When evaluating the merger, the primary focus has to be on the future margins. If the margins remain healthy, then the Palm acquisition could makes sense. Dell must have a hand-held computing platform, or they will be at a tremendous disadvantage. Also, has aggressive markerting by Nokia, Samsung, LG, RIMM, and Apple been properly considered.Operating systems is another issue to be examined. There are several major players, Microsoft, Google, Rimm, Apple,and now WebOS by Palm. The Palm WebOS appears to be a strong, intelligent system. However, Microsoft will never stand still and will eventually develop the stronger Operating System. There can only be a limited number of operating systems and it will likely fall to Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Application Developers just are not going to continue developing Applications for all operating system, unless they have the quantity of dispatched units to justify the development costs.Before considering the acquisition of Palm by Dell there must be a thorough test of the Palm Pre. Currently production problems are limiting market penetration, and they must maintain sales at an average of at least 40,000 Pres per week, however, with the competition becoming more aggressive, Palm Pre is likely to sink to 20,000 or fewer units per week. Currently Palm is way overvalued based on their balance sheet. When Palm goes below $9, then an acquisition may be justified.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:55:12 +0000

A mistake. During the dotcom collapse, insiders harked on what a great combination it was for Time Warner to purchase AOL as its online presence, since the company was late to the game. We all know how that turned out. Not one of the industry ‘experts’ or MBAs had the smarts to forsee that making such a purchase was ill-advised to begin with. The same holds true here for Dell in this situation. Purchasing Palm would not be advised at this time, unless Dell wants to blow through the remainder of its cash trying to prop this brand up against the iPhone and its clones. Dell should focus on what it does best: the desktop, hardware and its many incarnations, which its core market. It is quite unwise to spend on risky ventures right now, especially in a contracting global market.

By: Designlevel2

Designlevel2 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:24:54 +0000

This idea is quite intriguing, however I would hope that if such a deal happens that the Palm brand would be retained. Dell\’s brand image is less than attractive at present IMO. Palm has created a lot of buzz around the Pre and it\’s almost like a rebirth. I\’d hate to see this brand (in image only) get swallowed up by Dell.Just my 2 pennies

By: Richard Bergen County Real Estate

Richard Bergen County Real Estate — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:05:42 +0000

I think they need each other. Both have been growing weak. Together maybe they can innovate and produce something to compete against the likes of Apple and Research in Motion.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:18:01 +0000

The idea of Dell buying Palm is interesting however, the idea of a former Apple executive replacing Michael Dell needs some rethinking. One need only look at Apple when Steve Jobs is not running the show to see that Apple is a one man organization. Without Jobs, the various Apple executives did little or nothing to help the company.