Palm’s long decline since its PDA glory days has been well documented. But after a woeful third quarter, speculation has intensified that the firm could be ripe for acquisition.
The most likely buyers? Samsung and Nokia, according to one analyst, who sees the greatest value in Palm’s trove of patents. Enterprise Mobile Today has the details on the latest rumor of a Palm buyout.
A patents analyst says he believes that based on Palm’s patent portfolio and the cutthroat state of the smartphone industry, Samsung and Nokia are the two firms most likely to purchase the troubled maker of the Pre and Pixi.
Pundits across the Internet have been writing Palm’s obituary since it reported a bad third quarter earlier this month and said the next quarter would be even worse. While Palm has said it will soldier on, it’s still open to any fair offer, according to execs.
Of all the possible outcomes, purchasing Palm for patent protection is one of the worst next to bankruptcy. A smartphone vendor in need of patents to protect could buy Palm, which has a very old, rich library of patents related to phones, and keep just that as its shield against litigation by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) or Motorola (NYSE: MOT).
