Who does it compete with for the same buyer, and how do they differ?
For smartphone buyers, Palm's Pre was an iPhone alternative differentiated by combined touch and physical-keyboard input, but offered a narrower app selection than Android and iPhone OS competitors. The Pre was a Sprint-exclusive smartphone.
The Pre's App Catalog had few applications compared with the app stores of Android and iPhone OS competitors.
2Pricing Strategy
How does its pricing position it against rivals?
Palm IIIe matched the 2 MB Handspring Visor's $179 device price with a USB cradle, while PC compatibility changed the rival's cradle cost.
The Visor's USB cradle worked only with Windows 98, so Windows 95 users paid an extra $20 for a serial cradle.
3Risk Factors
Which risks could break the thesis, and what would warn of them?
Palm’s device business faced platform-supply and licensing risk because most products still depended on Palm OS despite the January 2006 Windows Mobile launch, and Palm depended on PalmSource for its handhelds and a significant portion of its smartphones.
PalmSource missed co-development milestones, releasing Palm from minimum royalty payments after calendar year 2006. Palm was negotiating broader rights to the current Palm OS; if talks failed, Palm warned that bringing products built on a future Palm OS to market could be impaired.
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