|
 |
Press Release
Palm to Create Subsidiary Structure for Platform Solutions Group Board Committee Led by Nagel to Oversee Separation
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Palm, Inc., (Nasdaq: PALM)
the leading provider of operating systems for use in handheld computers and
the leading provider of handhelds, today announced it will form a wholly owned
subsidiary to contain the Platform Solutions Group, separating it more
distinctly from the Solutions Group by the end of calendar 2001. A committee
of the board of directors of Palm, chaired by David C. Nagel, will oversee the
subsidiary's establishment. The Platform Solutions Group develops the Palm OS(R) platform and licenses
it to makers of handheld computers including HandEra, Handspring, Sony, Symbol
and Palm's Solutions Group, and smartphone makers including Kyocera and
Samsung. New licensees announced this year are Acer, which plans to take the
OS to Chinese-speaking customers in Asia-Pacific, and Garmin, a leader in
global-positioning satellite products. More than 16 million Palm Powered(TM)
handhelds have been shipped, and according to market-research firms, the Palm
OS is used in 76 percent to 88 percent of all personal digital assistants.(1) Under the new structure, the Platform Solutions Group would operate
independently but would continue to leverage Palm's infrastructure and staff
services. "We're eager to foster the independence of both of our businesses, and
creating a separate subsidiary for our platform activities will allow us to
bring greater clarity of mission, better serve licensees and, we believe,
increase shareholder value longer term," said Carl Yankowski, Palm chief
executive officer. "This is another important step to strengthen our technology and deliver
powerful and elegant solutions for our Palm OS licensees," said Alan Kessler,
Palm general manager of the Platform Solutions Group. "We continue to build a
large and powerful base of registered developers -- more than 170,000 of them
-- with more than 10,000 commercially available applications. This is great
news for the Palm Economy." An Advisory Council of Palm OS licensees also will be formed to consult on
the subsidiary's objectives and provide a direct channel for communication
with the Platform Group. "The Palm OS software platform's leading position in the industry for ease
of use, developer support and numbers of applications have led it to become
the overwhelming choice for handhelds," Nagel said. "The formation of this
subsidiary is a further step to ensure continued leadership in this rapidly
growing new industry." Nagel has been spearheading this initiative for several months and is
chairman of the Platform Solutions Group Committee of the Board of Directors.
Other committee members are Yankowski and Eric Benhamou, Palm chairman of the
board. <![CDATA[ Among the platform's milestones and accomplishments are the following:
-- Huge growth in the number of registered Palm OS developers. When the
company went public in March 2000, there were 50,000 developers.
Today, there are more than 170,000 registered developers;
-- Elegantly designed Palm OS reaches the 10,000 applications milestone.
The combination of the large installed base -- more than 16 million
Palm Powered handhelds shipped to date and the sleek, efficient design
of the Palm OS has resulted in the creation of more than
10,000 commercially available software applications. Solutions range
across enterprise, entertainment, productivity, reference, sales-force
automation and physician's decision-support.
( http://palmcomputing.palmgear.com/palm/shareware.cfm );
-- New licensees and renewed contracts. New licensees this year are Acer
and Garmin. Two existing licensees signed license extensions during the
year -- Handspring and Symbol;
-- Palm OS Ready Program. Semiconductor heavyweights Intel Corp.,
Motorola Inc., Texas Instruments and ARM Ltd. extended Palm's licensing
program to silicon providers to spur wireless and multimedia innovation
in the industry. These chip leaders will develop ARM-compliant
reference designs to help licensees get products to market faster,
provide developers with additional devices on which to develop new
applications, give users more choice in devices, including smart
phones, feature phones, and handheld computers.
About Palm, Inc.
]]> Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and mobile and wireless
Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to
IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS(R) platform, Palm's handheld
solutions allow people to carry and access their most critical information
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, Handspring, IBM,
Kyocera, Sony, Symbol Technologies, and HandEra (formerly TRG). 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 approximately 170,000 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
http://www.palm.com .
(1) 76 percent of worldwide Personal Companion share, 2000, IDC; 88
percent of U.S. retail share, June 24, 2001, PC Data
NOTE: Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm and Palm Powered are
trademarks of Palm, Inc.
SOURCE Palm, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.palm.com
CONTACT: Marlene Somsak, media relations, +1-408-878-2592, or marlene.somsak@corp.palm.com, or Jimmy Johnson, investor relations, +1-408-878-2771, or jimmy.johnson@corp.palm.com, both of Palm, Inc.
|
|