Palm Computing: the Pilot Organizer

MGMT-S5016: Management of Technology and Innovation

Harvard Summer School July 15, 2013

André Brant, Adrés Olea Juanne Zhao, and

Petros Sakkas

OverviewWho is Palm Computing? Brief history of the company

What is the Pilot Organizer? A handheld personal digital assistant “PDA”-shirt-pocket sized,

extremely user-friendly and easily upgradableA third devise that is more than a cell phone but less than a PC A replacement of the traditional pen and paper organizers Capable of scheduling, to-do lists, and organizing personal

directories

A replacement of the traditional pen and paper organizersthe third device that is more than a cell phone but is less than a PC

Product and Market Analysis

Target UsersEvery consumer who has the need for organizing their personal and professional life

Market developmentEnd of 1996, US market only: 360,000 Pilots vs. 112,000,00 PCs

The Company Strategy

How did Palm fail? – In the PDA Maket

Frequent changesCorporatePalm Computing Inc. (1992), US Robotics (1996), 3Com (1997), Handspring (1998), Palm Inc. (2000), PalmOne (2003), HP (2010) and finally Gram (2012)ManagementStrategy against competition(software, PDA or smart phone?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm,_Inc.#Logo_evolution_gallery, accesed on July 5, 2013

How did Palm fail?

http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1180&c=palm_i705, http://www.blackberrys.ru/review/4037.html , accesed on July 5, 2013

RIM BlackBerry 58103/2002

RIM Inter@ctive Pager 85012/1999

Palm i7051/2002

US Robotics Pilot Pro3/1997

How did Palm fail?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springboard_Expansion_Slot, http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1159&c=handspring_visor_prism, accesed on July 5, 2013

Handspring Springboards(cameras, wireless/WiFi, GPS)

Handspring Visor Prism 10/2000

How did Palm fail?

Product differentiation Rely on its early success and played the old school

Graffiti the only innovation (for how long?)Radical or Incremental innovations?

Graffiti, cradle, seamless/quick PC connectivity, SpringBoardPhone capabilities, WiFi, apps development/market

Using Windows OS and iTunes!Late mover

Graffiti vs. keyboard

How did Palm fail?

Marketing strategy Too much focus on GraffitiUS is the only market?Target groups

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2010/01/18/input.php, accessed on July5, 2013.

Saver Kit for the Company

CommitmentHow committed was the innovation team?

full time entrepreneur (24/7) instead of part timeMove faster than their rivals

Funds raisingStay with Palm Computing and search for funds?Go through acquisitions?

More focusProduct functionalityAdvanced technologyMajority users needs

Palm Pre: big expectation vs small innovation

How did Palm fail with its Smartphones?

Too long agreement with Sprint

Failure design and poor hardware

How did Palm fail with its Smartphones?

Palm was just to slow. Lost momentum, they needed to hurry up and then the 3GS happened

Palm didn't let developers make WebOS apps until it was too late

Palm didn't have the equivalent of an iPod touch

Palm's had serious marketing issues

How did Palm fail with its Smartphones?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSMj5RoYdEI&feature=player_embedded