Ex-Apple hardware chief named CEO of Palm
Jon Rubinstein, the computer engineer credited with building both the iPod and the Palm Pre, has been named chief executive officer of Palm (PALM).
He replaces Ed Colligan, who led the company for 16 years.
Rubinstein, 52, once one of Steve Jobs' closest advisors, left Apple (AAPL) in 2006 with stock holdings reportedly worth $26 million. He is said to have clashed with Jobs over the wisdom of building the iPhone.
He was recruited as executive chairman to help turn around Palm, once the leader in hand-held personal digital assistants, after the private equity firm Elevation Partners made a significant investment in the company.
The Pre, which Rubinstein introduced in January to great fanfare, is considered the strongest competitor to the iPhone to date. It was released last week, two days before Apple unveiled the iPhone 3G S.
Rubinstein's elevation to Palm's CEO completes his takeover of the company.
“I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm,” said Rubinstein in a prepared statement. “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."
Colligan plans to take some time off, then join Elevation Partners. He issued a statement in which he declared himself "very proud of what Palm has accomplished so far."
Palm's press release is available here.
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Yes the iphone is indeed not the best..i use a blackberry storm..concerning mails, it is very far better…ofcourse iphone also has some serious nice stuffs but still the verizon 3G network is simply unbeateable..
mails pro > blackberry storm
surf entertaiments > iphone
Competition IS a good thing! I hope Palm sells enough of the Pre to keep the product pushing the iPhone to make more and more improvements. I still like Palm and I hope they stay around but with three Mac desktops
five iPods, and a Macbook, We are an Apple family!!!
Many of my friends own iPhones and I, myself, own an iTouch. For my primary wireless device, however, I use a Blackberry Storm, which I much prefer to the iPhone. Yeah, I know I don't own a iPhone but I have played with my friends' iPhones enough to know what I am not missing. I like the iPhone's Web browser but, even with the iPhone 3G, AT&T's network cannot even touch Verizon's 3G network. AT&T's coverage is even worse that its network speeds….
If I could use an iPhone on either Sprint's or Verizon's speedier networks, then I might be persuaded to purchase an iPhone. Until then, Apple and AT&T can keep their iPhone 3G S. (I almost laughed when I learned that the "S" in "3G S" stands for "Speed." Bah!)
The Pre is a good start for a phone that's trying to topple the iPhone. Competition is good! And for those of you who are crying at the price of Apple's computers and other devices remember literally YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Anyone who doesnt like iphone is just jelous they dont have it lol the plam pre sucks i have played with it and its lame compaired to the iphone especially when the 3.0 comes out.
This Guy thought it was a bad move to build the iphone, he has great buisness sence lol. then he goes and builds the pre because he needs to compete with the best selling wireless phone of all time…. Keep backtracking Rubinstein lol Palms new Os is also horrible…
Maybe he will begin actually supporting what Palm sells. I will never buy another Palm. Not because it is bad, but because Palm refuses to continue support for it. Never before had I bought hardware that a company completely stops support and removes prior support.
Go PALM. Now Jon, how about turning around PALM in general to get more Tech support going for us PALM owners. I'd buy a Pre over an iPhone in a flash. Especially if it was reasonably priced, on a contract plan, as my main web-enabled phone, even though I get a company phone gratis.
"…it will never overtake the greatness of Apple."
I might actually be enticed to purchase an iPhone or a Mac if it weren't for all of these Apple zealots and their yuppie attitudes. Geez, they flock to Apple's advertisements like flies are drawn to…well, you get the idea.
Very good move for Palm. It's time to buy their stocks.
The Pre doesn't have to be an iPhone killer to be a winner.
It just has to be good enough. Not everybody wants an iPhone.
They can bring the sultan of Brunei and anyone else over to Palm, it will never overtake the greatness of Apple.
Well, Apple is in trouble…..Cliff Metzler got canned from Cisco and now his bad breath is at Apple now…Only a matter of time until Apple realizes..!
"Never before had I bought hardware that a company completely stops support and removes prior support." This is an exact description of Jobs and Apple since Apple dropped support for the Apple II, and then PowerPC instead of 68K, then PowerMac instead of PowerPC, and soon, Intel instead of PowerMac, and so on. Wake up!
Back on the topic, it's nice an engineer is in control of the company even if he was against the iPhone, but did build the iPod. MBAs are the bad seed that have been ruining companies lately, and it's good to get back to basics that aren't about the bottom-line but a more distant vision.
Disney is a great example of a MBA instead of visionary/engineering run company, for instance.