Hand Held Devices

In the mid 90’s Palm Inc. was experiencing the top moment of our history by pioneering a new and innovative business, then known as the hand-held industry. We were able to generate an appealing market that soon attracted new and forceful competitors. As time went by and changes in technology caused an unstable environment, the industry converted into a broader field. We lost our unique resource (that was our main competitive advantage) and now we find ourselves disoriented in a very aggressive market loosing more and more as the clock ticks.

Palm started with the right foot being considered as the most innovative and dynamic firm and as the uncontested market leader when it comes to hand held devices. This position didn’t last long because our unique resource missed and important feature: inimitable. The hand held industry perished and it suddenly became a hand held meets computer devices industry (smartphones), having an explosion of demand and supply with entry of strong competitors such as Nokia, Microsoft, RIM, Sony, Apple, among others. A new industry curve started to grow, taking in consideration that resources needed in each phase of the curve are different.

From this point on, Palm struggled to find the right strategy again. The unique resource to reach an interesting position in this new curve was missing. Although interesting products and software were developed, there was always something absent and market share and profits mostly-reflected red numbers. This wreckage was caused mainly because most of our core competences were lost such as valuable human resources that were recruited by competitors and our technology and systems that were not as complete and advanced as most of rivals. Our cross-functional capabilities, specifically new product development, were also low and due to the competitive and unstable industry we were left far behind.

For Palm Inc. to overcome this complicated situation, an analysis of the core questions