Bloomberg News is reporting that Palm is on the market with its leadership team working adamantly to smoothly and promptly lock up a deal with an interested party to sell the company possibly within the next few days.
Palm is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst Partners to bring about the company’s sale or acquisition. During the last twelve months, there have been 133 acquisitions within the US computer industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Although initial reports speculated that Apple – one of Palm’s chief competitors in the smartphone space – may be interested in acquiring Palm, it is believed that either HTC or Lenovo will ultimately purchase the struggling company, which – prior to today’s announcement – had a market value of approximately $870 million.
“Palm still has quite a good brand in the U.S. market, and some strong technology, so you can do something with it,” one analyst admitted to Bloomberg. “The shares have gone down a lot and the company may become attractive to anyone looking for a turnaround play.”
While it isn’t yet clear what will become of Palm, it is becoming patently obvious that the list of major players in the smartphone industry continues to shrink at a rapid pace, with more power and prestige now resting in fewer and fewer hands in the consumer electronics marketplace.
