ACCESS Completes Acquisition of PalmSource

Posted By: Ryan Monday, November 14, 2005 7:29:38 PM

Access Logo ACCESS and PalmSource have just announced that ACCESS has completed the acquisition of PalmSource. PalmSource is now a wholly owned subsidiary of ACCESS and will no longer be a separate publicly traded company. As a result of the acquisition, each outstanding share of PalmSource common stock has been converted automatically into the right to receive USD $18.50 in cash.

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What? Just like that?

cervezas @ 11/14/2005 10:56:09 PM #

Where was the shareholder meltdown you doomsayers promised?

Congratulations, PalmSource and Access!

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: What? Just like that?

Gekko @ 11/14/2005 11:37:01 PM #

it's coming, doughboy.

RE: What? Just like that?

joeags @ 11/15/2005 1:00:40 AM #

Nice, just made some free money. I purchased Palm back in 2001 when it was trading at under $1.60 per share (prior the reverse split), and received shares of PalmSource after the split. Guess I'll have to pay a transaction fee to get the money... anybody know for sure how this works???

Maybe this should be the last time I ever click on this thread again because the rest of the talk is going to be about "I told you so" and all of the hindsight talking. I wish people could actually live in the present and the future instead of whining for the nth time about the fact that they knew it was a bad idea.

RE: What? Just like that?

twrock @ 11/15/2005 4:36:27 AM #

whining for the nth time

It's what we live for here at PIC. If we can't spin it into doom and gloom, why comment at all?

I'm still waiting for the mythical "color HandEra."

RE: What? Just like that?

hoodoo @ 11/15/2005 8:36:17 AM #

"Guess I'll have to pay a transaction fee to get the money... anybody know for sure how this works???"

If you hold the shares in your brokerage account, they should be tendered automatically for $18.50 per share. If you hold actual share certificates, you will need to present them to your broker to receive the cash!

Cheers

RE: What? Just like that?

InsGuy @ 11/15/2005 10:02:57 AM #

I'd have to agree with Gekko (not the doughboy part). While this is good short-term for the shareholders, I think in the long run, Palm OS will eventually shrivel up. This might be a nice 'wholly owned subsidiary' right now for Access, but I just don't believe they will develope it like many would like to see it developed. I HOPE I'm wrong, but we'll just have to wait and see, IMO.

All good things...

RE: What? Just like that?

JarJar @ 11/15/2005 12:18:38 PM #

Congratulations for what?!

This is like selling off the engine in your car. It might generate some short term cash, but what is the benefit? This is as boneheaded as splitting Palm into PalmOne and PalmSource.

Why the acquisition is a good thing

cervezas @ 11/15/2005 1:49:14 PM #

JarJar wrote:
This is like selling off the engine in your car. It might generate some short term cash, but what is the benefit? This is as boneheaded as splitting Palm into PalmOne and PalmSource.

Regardless of the past, having PalmSource separate from Palm is now an idea that makes sense in the market. The groundswell of Linux adoption among phone vendors and the broadbased participation by operators in the new mobile Linux industry groups shows, coupled with the fact that Palm's middleware will address the precise areas where Linux is still weak as a phone OS--this all bodes very well for the idea that PalmSource will finally have the broad range of licensees that the split was supposed to encourage.

Palm would have been very happy to regain a defacto monopoly over Palm OS, but it wouldn't have been the best thing for the Palm platform. Frankly, I was somewhat relieved that Palm didn't succeed in buying back PalmSource. I don't know that it would have been a disaster, but it would certainly have been a less hopeful development for the platform. Access, on the other hand, seems like a terrific fit with PalmSource, having great connections with the broadest possible range of vendors and relatively high independence from any one of them.

So, like I said: congratulations, PalmSource and Access!

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: What? Just like that?

freakout @ 11/16/2005 7:00:40 AM #

Hi everybody, long-time lurker, first-time poster.

I think David's right - there are tremendous opportunities for the Palm OS (or Access OS or whatever they're going to wind up calling it) ahead. The signs all seem promising, but from what I've read of Palmsource's history (I won't pretend to be an authority) they completely botched the delivery of their last OS to the extent that no one was willing to make a device running it. So fingers crossed that having access to Access and its resources will help Palmsource deliver their Linux OS on time - even better, ahead of time, because their competitors aren't going to sit around and wait.

I for one don't really care about the underlying framework of the OS. It's the interface that matters to me. It's purely personal opinion, of course, but the Treo's interface is just killer - especially for SMS messaging, which seems to be a lot bigger here in the land of Oz than in the US. And the versatility of the device simply amazes me (as someone new to the world of PDAs), even more so when you consider how old Garnet actually is. I can live with the occasional reset, especially when I abuse the poor thing the way I do...

So as long as Palm can modify the new Access OS to retain that same excellent functionality in future products, then I'll follow them. Hardware has never been a strong selling point for me - usability is.

Tim Carroll
Your friendly customer service robot
(and big Treo fan)

DoCoMo antes up for a bigger piece of ACCESS

cervezas @ 11/30/2005 1:32:09 PM #

Sounds like the relationship between NTT DoCoMo, "the world's leading mobile communication company" and ACCESS is getting cozier and cozier. DoCoMo has increased its stake in ACCESS from 7.12% to 11.66%.

http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=11417

Are Palm OS for Linux phones in DoCoMo's future? They have been buying into Linux-powered phones from NEC and Panasonic, but your guess is as good as mine.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: What? Just like that?

Surur @ 11/30/2005 2:20:30 PM #

Are Palm OS for Linux phones in DoCoMo's future

How about "IS POSLinux ONLY meant for DoCoMo?"

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

RE: What? Just like that?

cervezas @ 11/30/2005 2:36:35 PM #

How about "IS POSLinux ONLY meant for DoCoMo?"

Then I guess we'll all just have to move to Japan, then, won't we? :)

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: What? Just like that?

Surur @ 11/30/2005 3:17:55 PM #

ACCESS develops and markets Internet software, mainly for mobile phones. Their products are marketed under the brand name NetFront. DoCoMo and ACCESS have been strengthening their partnership to develop mobile phone browsers and ACCESS's browser is widely used in DoCoMo's 3G FOMA handsets. Through this investment, DoCoMo and ACCESS aim to enhance their already close working relationship in development of upper layer application software centered on browser technology.

Sounds like the browser based NetfrontOS with PalmOS app compatibility to me. Goodbye Launcher.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Microsoft excluded from DoCoMo

Surur @ 12/1/2005 7:18:15 PM #

Interesting article from this time last year, which gives some insight into the business practices of DoCoMo. Its seems very much Keiretsu-like, with a conglomerate of different businesses with common goals, excluding other competitors.

This is one of the interesting lines, and reflects on Access's purchase of PSRC.

DoCoMo engages in extensive R&D into advanced cellular technologies in a bid to drive next generation networks and influence the manufacturers, and often helps to fund the R&D of its partners to speed time to market and reduce its own costs.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/26/microsoft_excluded_from_docomo/

There's a lot more meat in the article. It does make one concerned about a possible "closed garden" type of development, especially with a carrier thats so concerned about branding and uniformity of user experience.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

RE: What? Just like that?

AdamaDBrown @ 12/1/2005 8:30:33 PM #

Actually, Microsoft devices aren't excluded from DoCoMo, at least not anymore. The Sharp W-ZERO3, a VGA PocketPC phone with a sliding keyboard, is due out on their network in the next few months.

RE: What? Just like that?

PenguinPowered @ 12/2/2005 1:24:03 AM #

I wonder what Japan will feel like, as it is replaced by China as the largest market in the world for consumer electronics goods.

Marty Fouts

I survived PalmSource '05

Be there or be square?

SeldomVisitor @ 2/13/2006 3:30:00 PM #

-- http://www.palmsource.com/press/3gsm2006.html

RE: Be there or be square?

The_Voice_of_Reason @ 2/13/2006 5:11:38 PM #

Rumor has it the PalmSource stand has been replaced with a lemonade stand.

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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
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The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823