News: palmOne Now Officially Palm, Inc.
palmOne has officially changed its name to Palm, Inc. and has a new stock ticker (PALM), new logo, and new headquarters. PALM: Mobile-computing Leader Adopts New Name, Ticker, Logo and Headquarters; New Nasdaq Symbol: PALM
SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- July 14th marks the date palmOne, Inc. becomes Palm, Inc. The company today begins trading under the symbol PALM, formerly traded under the Nasdaq ticker symbol PLMO. Accompanying the name change is the release of a new company logo, which will begin appearing on products this fall.
Today's news follows an announcement on May 24 that the company had acquired unencumbered rights to the Palm(R) brand by buying out the share of the brand formerly controlled by PalmSource, Inc. (See the PalmZone.net article, palmOne to Change Name Back to Palm ).
"I'm confident we'll build our momentum even faster now that we can use the same term consumers and business people have always used for our products -- PALM," said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. "And while a lot has changed -- our name, ticker, logo and headquarters -- our vision remains the same. We believe the future of personal computing is 'mobile computing,' and we aim to deliver superior hardware and software solutions so that we can continue to set the bar in the industry."
The new logo builds upon the strong brand equity already established in the former blue Palm circular medallion, but the updated typeface suggests the trend toward digital content and an orange gradated background evokes energy. The logo was created by Turner Duckworth, a leader in brand identity design that counts among its customers Amazon.com and Coca-Cola. Turner Duckworth has created Palm and palmOne(TM) brand identities since the original blue medallion logo, including Zire(TM), Tungsten(TM) and LifeDrive(TM).
"Our new logo takes advantage of the high brand awareness we've built over time through award-winning and commercially successful handheld computers and smartphones," said Page Murray, Palm vice president of marketing. "It balances the past with the future, and signals to customers that they can expect to see a lot more of the name 'Palm' going forward in exciting mobile-computing products."
Russell Research found strong aided and unaided awareness for the Palm brand within Palm's key target market. In a study conducted among business professionals, the Palm brand was readily volunteered by 27 percent of respondents when asked to name a company that makes PDAs or handheld computers. Russell also found that 55 percent of these respondents were aware of Palm -- on either a voluntary or prompted basis.
"Palm's brand awareness is surprisingly high and a very valuable corporate asset," said John De Biasio, a partner at Russell. "Palm maintains the highest awareness level of any company in the category. And the potential is very good for the company to build on its brand awareness given the many positive attributes customers link to it today."
palmOne, Inc. was created in October 2003 when the earlier Palm, Inc. spun off PalmSource and acquired Handspring, Inc. At that time, the decision was made to share the Palm brand between palmOne and PalmSource. Over time, customers have come to identify the name Palm more with physical products than with the operating system that powers it.
The company has three product lines: handheld computers sold today under the Zire and Tungsten subbrands, smartphones sold under the Treo(TM) subbrand, and a new category of mobile-computing products called mobile managers. LifeDrive mobile manager was the first in this new line, announced May 18 (see the PalmZone.net article, palmOne LifeDrive Details).
Palm has long maintained that the future of personal computing is mobile computing, and its intent is to be the most significant company in mobile computing by delivering to consumers and businesses alike products that significantly enhance personal and work time and activities.
New Headquarters
Palm, Inc. is now located in Sunnyvale, Calif., at 950 W. Maude Ave., at the corner of Mary Ave. Two four-story structures provide 288,000 square feet of office space, which was required to accommodate the growing company. Palm has been hiring in the areas of engineering and wireless carrier relations.
About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) -- a leader in mobile computing -- strives to put the power of computing in people's hands so they can access and share their most important information. The company's products include smartphones, under the Treo(TM) brand; mobile managers, under the LifeDrive(TM) brand; handheld computers, under the Tungsten(TM) and Zire(TM) brands; as well as software and accessories.
Palm(R) products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and wireless operator channels throughout the world, and at Palm Retail Stores and Palm online stores.
Editor Comments
I won't pontificate too much on this, but I think its actually a waste of money and a step backwards for them. The only reason they went to Palm, Inc. in the first place is because they couldn't stick with Palm Pilot due to the company named Pilot that makes pens. "Palm" really is too generic to be a good brand name and they have spent millions trying to defend it as a brand rather than a household term.
Anyway, I happen to like the palmOne name and think it has already become pretty widely accepted. Although the reasearch above shows that folks are still clinging to the Palm name.
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Update (7/14): New logo image added.
Posted by tim_palmzone on Thu, Jul 14, 2005
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