The Trends of Performance of Palm Inc - Case Study Example

Palm, Inc. Case Study Introduction This is a case study that focuses on Palm, Inc., and its successful innovation. This is a company that was successful in the manufacturing of different handheld computing devices which are also referred to as personal digital assistants (PDAs). Today most people refer to handheld computing devices as smart phones. Palm, Inc., is a great example of a company that shows how innovation can create the success of a company without a lot of initial cash flow (Christmann 98). The case study shall look at the history of the company, the trends of performance of the company, the market of the company, the industry structure of the company, the innovation of the company, the technology of the company, and the marketing strategies of the company so as to be able to further understand how the company was able to make innovations with very little cash flow. History Palm, Inc. is headquartered in California, Sunnyvale. It was founded in January 1992 by Jeff Hawkins who was the former vice president of a company called Grid Systems Corporation. He was responsible for the famous pen computers that the company designed. The first product that was developed by Palm, Inc. was sponsored by Tandy Corporation and was called the Zoomer. The handheld device was marketed under the names of Tandy Z-PDA and Casio Z-7000. The products did not do so well commercially. An acquisition was made in 1995 by U.S Robotics Corp. By the year 1998, the founders of Palm, Inc. were not happy and left the company (Zheng and Lionel 229). Technology Palm, Inc. is a company that is known mostly for the handheld devices that it produces and therefore the technology used must be up to par. The company uses computer technology that is referred to as Palm platform. The Palm platform has its own operating system that runs the application software of palm and also runs the application software of a developer who happens to be the third party. There is software that exists that enables the user to use their handwriting using what is called a pen-based interface to write. The software is referred to as the Palm’s handwriting recognition Graffiti® (Powers 37). Synchronizing of information is something that has made everyone’s life today much easier. Software called HotSync® has the ability to link hand computing devices with computers or databases and synchronizing the data that one wishes to synchronize. These devices also have memory storage capacity that comes in the form of Random Access Memory software which is computer based memory storage. Software exists that enables the users to access the internet or to use corporate data. The software is called web-clipping software. These PDAs have a power source that comes in the form of lithium ion or sometimes in the form of AAA batteries. This exclusively depends on the device model (Brans 104-108). The expertise that has been put into the hand computing devices has helped in the innovation of the devices and the quality of devices has helped in the success of the performance of the devices. This has aided in the ability of other companies seeing potential in Palm, Inc. an acquiring the company, thus making investments in the company due to the ideas they have and quality of products. Innovation Innovation is the conception of a new initiative or doing something old in a new way. Palm, Inc. had created innovative products that were creative and had desired specs. These were handheld computing devices that were highly functional in the business aspect of life and in the personal aspect of one’s life. One could easily access corporate information from this device, one could synchronize data between the handheld computing device and the office based computer, and the device had a system that was easy to use. Palm, Inc. ensured that the PDAs had very distinguishing features compared to the other devices that were in the market. The PDAs have software for personal information including address book, a date book, a calculator, a to-do list and note taking (Hansmann, Uwe and Perti 46). The device also has the capability to receive and send emails, to store over a thousand contacts, to add extra hardware, to perform backup to the data, and to have additional software that is customized. The devices also have enough memory that allows access to data networks instantly. Together with the functionality features were product design features which made the PDAs hand held computing devices favorable in the market. The device was easy to use to the average person and very little training was needed for one to become familiar with the system that was used in the devices. The devices had LCD screen displays, and the screens are colored. They are light in weight, weighing from approximately 120 grams to about 170 grams and can fit in the shirt pocket. They have AAA batteries that are long lasting and are available for some models while some models have lithium ion batteries that last one month (Rischpater 27). Market Strategy The PDAs were being embraced into the market and being adopted by many. The market strategy of Palm, Inc. was to be more insistent in the endorsement of the product and the distribution of the product. The innovation and changing of technology of the products was part of the marketing strategy adopted by Palm, Inc. The company aimed to increase the size of their market and to create further segmentation as different customers desire different products. The company also desired to increase the market share. This may possibly be done through being the first to introduce a product into a market which they did easily by technical innovation as they designed elegant products with ease. Palm, Inc. also made use of third party companies to sell some of their products which were customized. They made used of companies such as IBM WorkPad PC Companion to sell their own products but under the brand of the third party company. The company also licensed their software and this made the software accessible to others (Zammetti et.al 16-20). Performance trends PDAs contribute to approximately 97% of the sales made by Palm, Inc., 3% of the sales is generated by accessories such as carry cases and peripherals such as modems. By the year 1999, Palm, Inc. had over 5 million hand held computing devices in the world. The company also had a 59% market share of the PDA market in the region of Asia Pacific Rim, a 72% market share in Europe and a 63% market share worldwide. Since 1995 the sales of Palm, Inc. have grown past four hundred percent. In 1999, the company made fiscal sales of over 563 million dollars (Plunkett, 12; Peterson, 328). This is a great growth for a period of less than five years. Conclusion Palm, Inc. was a company that was started in 1992 with the aim of manufacturing handheld computing devices. By 1995 the company was doing unexpectedly well. This is attributed mostly to the level of innovation in the company and not to the amount of cash flow as the company had very little initially because it was still in its start up level. The introduction of a device that had functionality sought after by both professional users and the non-professional users, has shown extraordinary success. The users see the product as a superior inventions compared to the others in similar markets as it meets all their needs and Palm, Inc. has become a great innovator in the market. In less than a decade Palm, Inc. was able to create a benchmark for innovation, functionality and quality which has made the company dominate the market share and created great financial success for the company. Palm, Inc. has been able to prove that innovation is enough to emerge successful even without enough cash flow. Works Cited Christmann, Edwin P. Technology-based Inquiry for Middle School: An Nsta Press Journals Collection. Arlington, Va: NSTA Press, 2006. Print. Zheng, Pei, and Lionel M. Ni. Smart Phone and Next Generation Mobile Computing. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2006. Print. Powers, Shelley. Webmasters Guide to the Wireless Internet. Burlington: Syngress Pub, 2002. Print. Brans, Patrick. Mobilize Your Enterprise: Achieving Competitive Advantage Through Wireless Technology. New Jersey: Pearson Professional Education, 2002. Print. Hansmann, Uwe, and Pertti Korhonen. Pervasive Computing: The Mobile World. Berlin [u.a.: Springer, 2003. Print. Plunkett, Jack W. Plunketts Infotech Industry Almanac. Houston, Tex: Plunkett Research, 2009. Print. Rischpater, Ray. Palm Enterprise Applications: A Wiley Tech Brief. New York: John Wiley, 2000. Print. Zammetti, Frank W, and Greg Hrebek. Practical Palm Pre Webos Projects. Berkeley, CA: Apress, 2009. Print. Peterson, Richard L. Inside the Investors Brain: The Power of Mind Over Money. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Print. Read More