Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 35

Now, im jsut curious to handspring and all other Palm OS based platforms's future.

What is stopping palm from basically NOT liscencing out palm OS and doing like Apple did. Palm could benifit from this (no competition) and would not take the dive that apple took because palm is still the leader in the palmOS world. WOuldnt this basically end handsrping? and all other palmOS based handhelds?

Im just curious because im thinkin of investing, and this question just popped into my mind.


Alan

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Lincoln,RI,USA
Posts: 51

I remember hearing something about a year ago when Handspring first started shipping, and this same question came up, that Palm views themselves as an OS manufacturer versus a hardware manufacturer. The economies of scale are much larger when you're licensing software versus manufacturing and distributing hardware. If I were Palm, I'd license the Palm name, hardware design, and manufacturing to another company and get out of the hardware biz altogether, then sit on the Palm OS licenses while getting into PalmOS app development (sound like another company to you?)

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

The original license agreement between Palm and Handspring was for 5 years if I'm not mistaken. So, we're ok for at least another 4

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 80

quote:

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Originally posted by MrSuicide
What is stopping palm from basically NOT liscencing out palm OS and doing like Apple did. Palm could benifit from this (no competition) and would not take the dive that apple took because palm is still the leader in the palmOS world. WOuldnt this basically end handsrping? and all other palmOS based handhelds?

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by dpdamour
The only hope for their continued success is to have the PalmOS on as many PDAs as possible; whether they are Palm Inc devices or that of a competitor.

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 35

Like one of the other poster above said, Palm is interested in becoming a OS supplier. Maybe the Microsoft of PDAs?

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by TOYboy
Palm is interested in becoming a OS supplier.

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Registered: Dec 2000
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Posts: 27

I read somewhere that they make/charge $13 per license with Handspring and Sony. That is about the same margin as they would make if they sell their own devices. Palm weren't stupid when they licensed the OS out if this info is correct.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by iluvblue
they make/charge $13 per license

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Hmmm... and Handspring just passed the one million unit mark. Makes for a nice piece of change, don't you think?

I also think that Jeff and Donna are the ones that put the licensing strategy in place prior to leaving Palm. They must have known they could build a better mouse trap.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Lincoln,RI,USA
Posts: 51

Very interesting article on Anywhereyougo.com that talks about this very subject...

http://www.anywhereyougo.com/ayg/ay...e.po?id=1714681

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Urbana, Ohio U.S.
Posts: 33

Simple economics really. Manufacturers should produce to the point that marginal costs = marginal revenue. In the case of software (especially licensing) what is marginal cost? 0 or approaching 0.

Think of it this way. What does it cost Palm to sell the license? Nothing. What is the risk? If the competing platform fails, does it impact Palm hardware sales? No. The real key piece of info here is how much Palm makes on their hardware units, if the "net" is less than the licensing charge (less some probability percentage of actually selling units) -- sell the licenses. Smart business.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

Looks like it's just been renewed/extended, for a long time. If HS is going to support another platform, looks like they'll have 2. Till 2009, Jeez!

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

quote:

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Originally posted by iluvblue
I read somewhere that they make/charge $13 per license with Handspring and Sony. That is about the same margin as they would make if they sell their own devices. Palm weren't stupid when they licensed the OS out if this info is correct.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

i've also read that the licensing profits only make up about 10-15% of their total profit (i think that number is right, but i remember it being down there somewhere) which should give you a pretty good idea on profit margins considering the number of units palm has sold when compared to handspring or Sony.

i think the true income from licensing the OS will come from cellphones adapting it for their uses.....100's of millions of cellphones vs. millions of PDA's

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 501

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkEagle


I'd like to see Jeff Hawkins and company come up with a killer handheld OS. Who better to do it than the father of the PDA as we know it today?

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Reading the press release about the Palm OS renewal, I'm wondering to what degree Palm is at the steering wheel of it's own OS. The way I read it, several of the newer Palm OS features (USB synching, 16-bit color) that have wound up in Palm OS 4.0 came from Handspring.

I assumed a couple of months ago that Handspring would be coming out with their own OS. However, there was one possibility I hadn't considered: what if Palm is letting Handspring co-develop the Palm OS with them? I.e., Handspring can add new features in "H" versions of the Palm OS released in Visors, and then moved into the mainstream Palm OS releases a few months later; or that they're directly feeding improvements to Palm for their OSs.

I know -- it seems unlikely for two companies that compete so directly in hardware to work that closely in software. I'm just speculating. But Handspring's renewal of the Palm OS has two major points:

1) It means that Handspring isn't splintering the gigantic Palm OS majority that dominates the PDA market right now.
2) I assume this means that Handspring is pretty certain that they can get whatever major features they want from the Palm OS.

It would be interesting to look at the fine print of that license renewal contract.

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