The greater product focus will eliminate a key weakness of not being strong at any one market. Professionals and consumers have distinctly different needs, and Palm needs to figure out which of these it is more likely to meet and then pursue that to the detriment of the other. Pursuing both has left it vulnerable. The only real opportunity in smartphones is with innovation, as the market has tended to always reward the most technologically innovative firms. Thus, HP needs to focus on building the innovation level at Palm. This still subjects it to threat, especially in the direct competition with three very powerful entities. However, HP is accustomed to competing vigorously against firms the size of Microsoft, Google and Apple and succeeding, so Palm provides the company with just another opportunity to do this, and to do it with the benefits of the HP warchest and customer base.

Works...
[ View Full Essay]