Press Room
Palm Completes Formation of Palm OS Subsidiary as Palm Powered Devices Hit 20 Million Sold
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Palm,
Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM)
today announced that it has completed the formation of the
Palm OS(R) subsidiary, providing a complete internal separation
of Palm's device and operating system platform businesses.
Under the new corporate structure, Palm, Inc., through its
Solutions Group, will license the Palm OS platform as the
foundation for its industry-leading Palm(TM) handhelds.
In an update on the state of the handheld marketplace, the
Palm OS subsidiary today reported that the total number of
Palm Powered(TM) devices sold has now surpassed 20 million
worldwide. November sales figures from market research firm
NPD Intellect showed Palm Powered handhelds made up about
82 percent of all handhelds sold at retail in the United States.
In preliminary numbers for December, that percentage rose
even higher. The top three handheld vendors this Christmas
season all sold devices using the Palm OS: Palm, Handspring
and Sony.
'"The momentum of the Palm OS platform last quarter
demonstrates the success of our strategy in growing the Palm
Economy in both our hardware and software businesses,"
said Palm, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric
Benhamou. "The timely establishment of the Palm OS software
subsidiary is an important and cogent milestone toward meeting
the commitment we made to our licensees and investors to create
two leading independent businesses."
Palm first signaled that it would move toward the creation
of a Palm OS subsidiary last year. It then brought David Nagel
on board to run the OS business. Nagel, a software industry
veteran and widely recognised visionary leader, moved aggressively
to complete the separation as part of his overall plan to
accelerate Palm OS market momentum.
"Our strong lead in the market continues because we enable
our licensees to deliver the most innovative products to market,"
said Nagel, president and chief executive officer of the Palm
OS subsidiary. "Our continued focus on an excellent user
experience, coupled with an efficient operating system, creates
a competitive advantage that is hard to match. The formation
of the subsidiary provides us with even more opportunities
to take the market to new levels."
He will address Palm's large developer community for the first
time at the PalmSource(R) Conference and Expo Feb. 5-8 at
the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. ( http://www.palmsource.com ). At the conference, Nagel will share his plans for the subsidiary.
He will also host Tom Siebel as the keynote speaker for the
PalmSource Enterprise Seminar. While traditionally a developer
conference, PalmSource has been expanded this year to include
an Enterprise Seminar, as well as an Expo that is open to
all Palm Powered device enthusiasts and users.
About the Palm OS Subsidiary
The Palm OS(R) subsidiary of Palm, Inc. is responsible
for delivering the software platform that is the foundation
for handheld products, including those from Acer, HandEra,
Handspring, Kyocera, Palm, Samsung, Sony, Symbol Technologies,
and in the future, AlphaSmart and Garmin. More than 190,000
innovative developers and solution providers have registered
to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. There
are more than 13,000 commercial applications available for
Palm Powered(TM) devices.
About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless
Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers,
according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS®
platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry
and access their most critical information with them wherever
they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals,
enterprises and educational institutions through thousands
of application solutions.
The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony, and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Acer, Garmin, Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and more than 160,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at www.palm.com
Palm OS is a registered trademark, and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries.
