It has been less than a week since Palm launched its new SmartPhone, and yet now in a move that is somewhat surprising to many of us considering the success of the launch, they have decided to make leadership changes.
Initial sales of the Palm Pre handset actually exceeded expectations and there were queues up and down the country for the new phone.
Ed Colligan, who has been head of Palm for sixteen years, is to be replaced with Executive Chairman John Rubinstein who said “I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm”.
“Ed and I have worked very hard together the past two years, and I’m grateful to him for everything he’s done to help set the company up for success. With Palm webOS we have ten-plus years of innovation ahead of us, and the Palm Pre is already one of the year’s hottest new products…..Due in no small part to Ed’s courageous leadership, we’re in great shape to get Palm back to continuous growth, and we plan to keep the trajectory going upward.”
Ok so there have been rumours that Ed was looking to step down from his current role but you’d think with the recent buzz around the Palm Pre he might have stayed a bit longer, unless of course he wants to quit while he’s ahead.
“I’m very proud of what Palm has accomplished so far,” said Colligan.
“We pioneered two major product categories and I believe we are on our way to defining the standard for the mobile web. I’m extremely proud of our team, and grateful to have played a role in turning Palm around. I know that Jon, the Board and the Palm executive team will do an incredible job driving Palm to new heights.”
According to a statement by Palm, Ed will eventually join Elevation after taking some time off.
Rubinstein became Palm’s Executive Chairman a couple of years ago in October 2007 after Elevation Partners bought a 25% stake in Palm and it was he who we have seen at conferences and who has visited numerous retail outlets regarding the new phone so the actual choice of leader is not so surprising.
Palm was an early leader in the market for SmartPhones when it launched the Treo but the iPhone and the Blackberry soon surpassed Palm to become dominant in the industry, now with ex Apple executive Rubinstein at the helm they maybe hope that Palm will be in a position to compete once again and take Palm into a new era.
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It looks very stylish phone and “Colligan” is absolutely right….he should be proud of his phone. It is very delicate and has wide features. Definitely it has got right to become a leader. Definitely it will be a good competitor for all the other phones and will take palm phones to a new phase.
Cell phones are becoming an icon for these generation…they become their life…Each one tries to have a better cell phone than his mate….and during this growing competition palm has been launched….it is very delicate and has wide range of functions…it will be a great competitor for all the other phones.I think it will rightly so lead all the other cell phones.