As the title suggests I know I’m being a bit of a jerk here. But Don Reisinger’s piece on eWeek today was just…really bad. I mean, it did get me thinking on the topic (see my “4 things” below) but it is just laughable and I had to share it with someone.
Apologies to Mr. Reisinger in advance (because Lord knows I’ve written a laughable post or two in my time). His first point…
1. Revamp the Pre: The Palm Pre is in desperate need of attention. The device pales in comparison to the iPhone. It's not only oddly designed, it lacks the "wow" value that the iPhone has. In a space where Palm is attempting to compete with Apple, that's a major problem. To turn things around, Palm needs to go back to the drawing board with the Pre and deliver a revision that reflects the current design requirements consumers have.
Note two things here. One, the Pre came out well after the iPhone so telling them to go back to the drawing board with “current design requirements” in mind ignores the fact that they had those requirements in mind in the first place. Two, he’s suggesting they take their cues from Apple. That’s important later.
2. Work on WebOS: WebOS has quickly turned out to be more trouble than its worth for Palm. Theoperating system seemed like a fine idea to differentiate the product in the beginning, but it didn't resonate with consumers. Palm needs to take a step back and evaluate what's really needed in WebOS and eliminate all the rest.
OK, so he doesn’t like the Pre because it’s not like the iPhone and he doesn’t like WebOS. Fair points. So what’s this…
7. Stay true to Palm: At the same time, Palm needs to be Palm. Part of the allure of Palm products in the past was that they offered a unique take on mobile computing.
And this…
8. Consider licensing WebOS: Licensing WebOS would only work if Palm fixed its platform first, but there is an opportunity for the company to license its software to other phone vendors and perhaps some electronics makers.
And this…
10. Forget about the iPhone: Palm needs to totally forget that there is an iPhone competing against its Pre. When the company first announced the Pre, it made it all too clear that it was gunning for Apple.
So design with the iPhone in mind but forget about the iPhone. WebOS sucks but consider licensing WebOS and though I dislike both Palm’s flaship product and it’s OS they need to, above all else, stay true to themselves. Okey Dokey.
(Oh and Palm was all too clearly gunning for the iPhone? I don’t know about that)
Moving on…
4 Things Palm Could Actually Do To Make a Comeback
1. Partner with Adobe: People aren’t going to develop for WebOS. There are just too many other platforms. But Adobe is building a platform that will run on Android, Symbian and Windows Phones. So Palm’s only chance is to put it’s full weight behind Adobe and hope to create an “Us against Apple” coalition. That’s just the only “App Strategy” I can see working for them.
2. Focus on One Device: They simply don’t have enough resources to be dividing them. They can always use older models as low end entries (like Apple does very successfully with the iPhone). But a company the size of Palm needs to be completely focused on making one big push if they want to succeed.
3. Hit the Pixi Price Point: This is the hardest goal but the reality is Palm will never be considered the premium option against the iPhone. Meaning they can’t be more expensive than an iPhone. With iPhone’s going as low as $199 that means hitting $99 (or at least $149).
4. Find a Niche to Serve: Palm needs to find a small niche that has enough people to keep the company alive so it can stop worrying about survival and focus on building it’s product. Because no one does their best work with a gun to their head. For example Palm could put a special effort into making it’s phone the best phone for Stock Brokers. Fund a back end that focuses on pushing info to them as quickly as possible, make a specialized app that helps them trade from the phone easily, etc… Basically they need to make their phone the premium option for a small but lucrative group (and hopefully sell that group services that will generate more revenue)
Palm has huge issues right now and the numbers certainly aren’t on it’s side. But the same was true when it’s founder was trying to convince companies that the PDA was a viable concept based on a block of wood and a seemingly arcane writing style. Challenges are meant to be overcome and Palm has a history of doing just that.