A Message to Palm Customers, Partners and Developers

As many of you are aware, we are in the process of building our next generation software platform. We are very excited about how this is coming together. It has a modern flexible UI, instant performance, and an incredibly simple and elegant development environment. We are working hard on this platform and on the first smartphone that will take advantage of it.

In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts. To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering our next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market. We will, of course, continue to develop products in partnership with Microsoft on the Windows Mobile platform, but from our internal platform development perspective, we will focus on only one.

Because we were nearly at the point for shipping Foleo, this was a very tough decision. Yet I am convinced this is the right thing to do. Foleo is based on second platform and a separate development environment, and we need to focus our efforts on one platform. Our own evaluation and early market feedback were telling us that we still have a number of improvements to make Foleo a world-class product, and we can not afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus. That would not be right for our customers or for our developer community.

Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We're not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.

I would like to thank our customers for their interest in Foleo. I know there will be disappointed folks who were looking forward to carrying a Foleo for all their mobile computing needs. I am certainly one of them. I would also like to thank the developers who have supported our Foleo efforts. They have been loyal to Palm and have worked hard to deliver some compelling solutions on the Foleo platform. I know that they will understand that the right thing to do for the long run is to focus on one platform that will live for years, rather than invest energy in a one-off solution. We will make every effort to make sure we bring our developers forward to our next generation platform.

This decision will require us to take a limited charge of less than $10 million dollars to our earnings. This is a lot of money, but it is a small price relative to the costs that would be required to support two platforms going forward. This decision is in the best interest of our customers, our team, our products and our shareholders. I hope this renewed focus at Palm will allow us to deliver more compelling solutions to our core smartphone market, and it will allow us to position ourselves for the long run around one Palm experience.

-Ed Colligan, CEO

Comments

[LHHessCPA]

I have 2 reactions. One is that the company is also abandoning the Palm O/S. The other is that $10M is not a very large sum for a company that operates in a market the size of smartphones to spend on developing a new product. It says to me that Palm wasn't very committed to the project. It was tinkering with an idea while deciding whether to continue the Palm O/S. If I'm right, today will have been ironic as it was the day I decided to purchase a Treo 680 to replace the 600 and 650 Treos that have each experienced failures less than 2 years after purchase (that's less than 1 year out of warranty). The appeal of Palm O/S 3rd party apps. has been the hook that kept me in the Palm family for 8 years. If 3rd party Palm O/S app. development stops now, I will probably have to abandon the Palm O/S, too.

[Drbuzz0]

I'm not sure if this was a good idea or not, but the product clearly was not getting as much good press as one would want.

Please, Palm. Please, listen to your customers. Please, do it. It's absolutely critical that you do it.

Have you noticed every Treo produce since the Treo 600 which does not have wifi is met with a huge graon? Have you noticed that the Palm blogs and review sites all bitch to no end about this?

You can't go on with that happening. You have to put wifi in because you just can't continue with that dissatisfaction.

The same goes for Flash SWF player. There's a petition with 2000+ signatures for a Flash player for palm.

People also want a better, more effecient Java runtime.

It has to be done. Excuses don't work. It's needed yesterday.

Please, please listen to the reviewers. View the boards. Look at the blogs. People are dissatisfied to no end

[CES Dewar]

This may have been a painful decision, but it should not have been a difficult one. When I started my own company some 30 years ago, I got some very, very good advice from a successful entrepreneur: he said: "figure out the one thing you do better than anyone else, and then just do THAT - don't try and do anything else". There ARE some things that Palm has and continues to do right - stay focussed on those things, and Palm can rise to the forefront again. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that a robust, Linux-based platform with full PACE support and evolutionary (not necessarily revolutionary) hardware will be more than sufficient to accomplish that goal...

[Kyle]

Hooray! I really think that killing the Foleo was a good idea.

I have been a Palm user since my first Handspring Deluxe back in the day and am presently enjoying my Treo 600.

I am heavily invested in the Palm OS with 3rd party software and am looking forward to an update as soon as I can find a reasonably priced unlocked unit or T-Mobile gets off their butt and offers Palm units once more.

Do something cool!

[Richard]

I had been a Palm customer through Handspring -- in the end owning a Treo 700p. I left last month for the Apple iPhone. I do miss some features of the Treo but the iPhone is clearly a better paradigm. I would have bought a Foleo had it shipped last spring. Alas too little too late.

[Adam C]

I have two comments on dropping the Foleo. Though I never understood the "smart phone companion" concept, I thought the palm like device in a format with a touch type size keyboard and larger screen was promising, though the price would have to be lower, say under $400. Second, I hope that this narrower focus does not mean you are dropping support for non-phone products. I really love my TX, and don't need a smart phone.

[Jonathan Nzouankeu]

I appreciate Palm sending us the info before we read it in the news. Can I remind everyone that the core business for Palm is the handheld computer?

This smartphones obsession is becoming annoying unless Palm is about money without innovation spirit, we need to understand that there is a life after the smartphone.

Palm management needs to understand that we are not all cell phone freaks, going about our lifes with the device hooked to our ears.

However, we use a computer every day. This is why a good handheld that enables us to keep our computing life in the palm of our hands makes more sense.

I don't want a smartphone, I want a cell phone. As simple as possible. But I want a handheld because "palm computing" is the future, not smartphone computing.

Palm lost it best reputation: leader in the handheld market.

The market needs a new Palm handheld on that new platform.

The market needs Palm to regain the pole position Palm almost suicidally withdrew from.

[MacBill]

You guys started going downhill when you stopped development & dropped support for Macintosh users. Any company that turns its back on Mac users eventually goes downhill and dies. You guys have lost your importance in the marketplace and are nearing death at this point.

[CRT]

Count me among the very disappointed as I was eagerly looking forward to an instant on, bigger screen and keyboard device with WiFi and bluetooth, browser and DataViz apps that could sync with my Treo. It is definitely the device I want. I just hope the promised device doesn't mean I have to buy a new Treo in addition in order to get it. Any chance of getting one of the pre-production models?

[Rich]

I'm glad you smartened up. Too bad so much time and energy was spent on this terrible idea. As a Palm/Handspring owner since the original Palm Pilot, I fear this detour may have been the fatal mistake.

[Paul]

That's not an easy decision, but it's certainly the right one. Canceling a product less than a month away from launch takes guts. And it's exactly that kind of attitude that's needed to turn Palm around and take back the Smartphone market. Good luck guys.

[DrM]

"decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration"
HOLLY GUACAMOLE!!!!

[Scott Lawton (Blogcosm)]

I agree the Foleo has a future -- and that it's probably best to focus right now on other things. (Like a Treo that hides the Qwerty keyboard behind a slider!)

[vip malixi]

Now that you've re-focused, here's the ingredients of a perfect smart-phone:
1. wi-fi
2. long battery life (w/c means still allowing users to turn off phone and be able to use PDA/media player)
3. high-res screen
4. emulation of Palm apps (there are some that users simply need, like PalmReader, the medical database apps, Documents to Go, alarm clock)
5. stability, multitasking (it shouldn't be hanging and crashing several times a day)
6. Mac compatibility - users should be able to download and upload documents, pictures, video, spreadsheets, etc.
7. sdk for developers
8. replaceable battery or a really long one that'll last for years
10. slot for SD/MM cards
11. infrared so we can use it as a remote to control tv, dvd, etc.
12. space between keys on keyboard--look at Tungsten W--it was so easy to type on it I used to use it to type my 8-page articles

[jon]

RIP Palm

[cham]

Bad news.

[Calvin]

Dear Mr. Colligan,

Just as "Hollywood" shared with "Maverick" in the movie Top Gun after his girlfriend Charlie emasculated him in front of the entire flight school, I would like to say to you:

"Gutsiest move I ever saw, Ed."

As a loyal Palm user since the beginning, and having standardized my mobile business needs on the Palm Treo platform, I am thrilled to hear you are refocusing all of your development efforts on a single new Linux Palm OS.

In my opinion, your main U.S. competitors' smartphone products all have serious weaknesses that only a new Palm Linux OS-based smartphone seems able to address. That's why I am sticking with Palm-based Treos and NOT going to the iPhone, WinMob 6 or Blackberry units.

Focus on the new POSII platform, bring out a worthy successor to the 755P, and I believe Palm's future will be bright indeed!

Thanks for having the courage and leadership to make such a hard decision. Best of success to you and your entire team moving forward! You have my support!

Calvin Cummings, MAI
President & CEO
CummingsAppraisalGroup.com

[Reluctant Switcher]

Dear Ed,

Smart move and I applaud you on your difficult decision to hold off on the Folio a project you seem passionate about now as when it was introduced earlier this year. I purchased my first Palm product because hands down no other product or phone came close to matching its ease of use and innovation. Up until recently my Palm Treo has been by far the best phone I ever owned and I have promoted the Palm OS excitedly and encouraged many colleagues to purchase Palm products and hardware based on my positive experiences.

Today, I’m not so sure that can be said of the current Palm models. The past few years the flavor of the phones, the OS and the improvements seem to be oddly familiar.

Reluctantly, I have switched to an iPhone not because of the hype surrounding its release, but because the OS platform and user experience of the iPhone seem to be advancing the technology for all smart phones in general. In the big picture, my switch will not ultimately bring Palm to its knees (nor is that my intention) because I believe Palm is resilient and will weather the storm. It is my hope that it is a wakeup call for Palm to get its act together and take back the market you helped create.

I also, know you are in your transition period and your hardware and OS platforms are still being perfected. Many of us would have been happy to wait patiently to see what direction Palm was going if only we had more to go on aside from a few product announcements and tidbits here and there from the rumor sites. The news communicated to the non-product developer Palm user seemed too far and distant, almost like vaporware.

I hope you will listen to those of us who have been passionate Palm users in the past and have only looked elsewhere reluctantly recently for other smart phone alternatives. If there had been a product made by Palm that exceeded or reviled the phones available on the market today similar to the iPhone hands down I’d still be on a Palm today. I don’t want you to copy the iPhone but I do want the Palm of yesteryears where innovation and the technology made you say: “WOW!” You created that experience way before the iPhone ever existed.

What ever happened to the "smart" in smart phone? Please listen to your users who want built in WiFi, an amazing screen and an Internet browser capabilities that doesn’t look watered down. The Palm OS should be upgradeable and the phone should be viewed as long-term investment not some throw away phone you have to buy every year or two because the technology by the creators wasn’t planned out very well.

And please! Please! Think outside of the box and don’t just make this another “smart phone” but think in terms of the world’s smallest “smart computer” that fits in your pocket. You have the chance to revolutionize the way we travel with our data. Anyone can make a phone.

I believe the days of desktops and laptops are dead.
As a fellow Palm user I urge you to start working feverously 24 hours a day on the next OS that will silence any doubters of Palm's future in the smart phone market. It’s time to get out of the recycling market (has the Treo really changed lately?) and make a product that takes Palm back to the level of design that other companies use to envy and try to imitate.

Just my opinion. If you build it we will come. Build a new product/catagory in the market and the Folio can come along for the ride.

I would come back in a second if Palm made the product I know your capable of making.

Signed,

Reluctant Switcher.

On a side note: Maybe the best thing to do with some of the unused Folio equipment would be to auction it off to Palm users to raise money for charity and give the opportunity for the users who stuck with Palm through the tough times a chance to have ownership in a bit of Palm history.

[J Lewis]

Sounds like I wasn't the only one drooling for the Foleo. I can appreciate the business decision Colligan had to make, and hope he makes good on a future product that will deliver what the foleo promised. I've been waiting 8 years for this product, guess a couple more won't hurt.

[Serrgil]

And please, do not fotget to offer global warranty and customer service. It results to me impossible to get my Treo 680 (in Palm NY Store purchased) reppaired in Australia. You are selling MOBILE devices, so please, big touchscreen, smooth UI, wi-fi and global warranty!

[Hazif Azlan]

Well, we always had to make decision. With Foleo out of focus now, I hope what the Palm is focusing now will become better. As said in a few comments above, it would be ashamed to see Foleo thrown away in the dump area, it might better of with us.

[Vance]

Hi Ed,

A humble and well-written post. It took a man to write it, although I disagree very much with the decision.

Can you please sell me a device anyway... just a way to make up for the worst birthday present every?

http://profoleo.com/2007/09/happy-birthday-from-palm-and-other-random-neural-firings/

[tim ashman]

Ed, I applaud the tough decision this must have been, however can palm get back to the PDA market, forget about cell phones, make an awesome product with no strings, not controlled by other companies who don't have your customers as their focus and by all means let's move to linux as fast as possible. Please drop the entire idea of a UMPC, if you must link to a cell phone make a deal with openmoto enhance the bluetooth to allow smart connections and update the palm desktop to run apps off palms and openmoto in an emulator. Please get back to what made you great, PDA's.

[ROC]

I suppose it is better to back away from this half-baked attempt at providing an update to a combination of NEC MobilePro 880 and Sharp Zaurus - Linux on a typist-friendly, ultra portable form factor. If one looks at what Nokia has done with the N800 and what JLime has done to retrofit the Jornada 680/690 and, possibly the 720/728 (whose power is MUCH more suitable than the 680/690 SH3's), one can see a significantly untapped market for a solid entry in that ultraportable category.

Go beyond pitiful little thumbboards further hobbled by the deliberately hampering qwerty layout (wanna really "innovate"? Jump into the Dvorak layout of the last century to go beyond the deliberately limiting qwerty design of 2 centuries ago to make thumbboards far more ergonomic ... just a thought...).

Think in terms of a clamshell PepperPad or NEC MObilePro 900 with a 800x480 TFT-quality LED backlit screen, USB 2.0 host ports, Bluetooth, longlife batteries, etc, driven by a fully open Linux platfrom environment ala OPIE or Maemo - some of us are yearning for that combo, but how many, I have no idea. Do some market research based on those realities, not some bluesky dreaming.

[OMG!]

are you guys for real?! have you heard of the iphone! lmao!!!. dudes let go of 1998 already!!!