Palm’s heart monitor just started beeping

Posted August 5, 2008 at 02:20 PM by JG Mason

Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile

There was a lot of talk about who would take the biggest blow in the smartphone world with the intro of the iPhone.  A Changewave study shows this chart.  What’s interesting isn’t the data the graph is making obvious, it is the totals. 

If you add up the % of the smartphone market, you’ll find the total market segment being served by Palm, Rim and Apple throughout this period isn’t changing.  It is staying relatively flat at about 2/3rds of all smartphones.  So this would suggest, the merry trio are not bringing new folks into the smartphone market, rather just cutting up the pie differently.

This would also suggest, folks are leaving their Palms Windows Mobile OS to head for Apples.  Presumably, iPhone is swiping folks from other smartphone makers too, only compounding the migration away from Windows Mobile. Looking at the trend lines, Palm is going to be usurped by iPhone probably in the next quarter.  Then what?  Can the iPhone battle RIM with just one phone vs RIM’s plethora of options (flip phones too?).

In this interview, Ed Colligan is rightfully up on the 2 millionth inexpensive Centro.  He says he is “ecstatic” about the new technology they are coming up with.  Colligan excited talked about a “breakthrough of innovation”.  Colligan goes into how the B2B business will still be served by Windows Mobile devices and consumers by the Palm OS.  I have doubts about this strategy as the iPhone is showing us, make it fun and people will get it into businesses no matter what. 

How long before we start seeing some new Palm products leaked?  Will they build on the Centro’s success or just jump right back in with $500 phones and gamble folks will like them?

Read [Electronista] Colligan interview [CNBC]