Palm Seeks Buy-Out
Confirming rumors hinting of grim things to come, PDA mastermind and current smartphone maker Palm has hired the services of Goldman Sachs to secure a buyer for the struggling company.
Since September, Palm's stock has lost three quarters of its value while sales of the company's newest smartphones (the Pre and Pixie) failed to earn the type of numbers many were hoping would save the flailing firm.
Among the interested parties rumored to be considered for the purchase include Taiwan handset maker HTC and Chinese PC maker Lenovo, as well as tech giants Dell and Microsoft, and handset makers Nokia and Motorola.
The biggest tragedy is that only a few years ago, Palm basically created and owned the PDA (personal digital assistant) market; to the point that their branded "Palm Pilot" was basically synonymous with the whole industry. These days of converged devices, Palm has faced brutal competition from the likes of Apple (iPhone) and Research in Motion (Blackberry).