PDA leadership slipping from Palm's hands? It looks like Palm is handing over its leadership in hand-held technology to Microsoft. According to Forbes' analysis that "When Palm announced today (Monday, Sept. 26) that its new smartphone would run an operating system from Microsoft, it was the equivalent of Coca-Cola agreeing to fill its bottles with Pepsi." The Microsoft behemoth apparently proved to be too much for Palm.
Microsoft beat up on Palm the same way it took out many of its competitors in the desktop OS space: by putting pressure on hardware vendors to use its operating system, and offering it at a price they couldn't refuse. "It's typical when a market gets a certain critical mass, that Microsoft comes in and tries to squeeze out the niche players," says Caris & Company analyst Susan Kalla.
With tens of billions in cash, Microsoft can afford to be patient and has shown a willingness to even lose money to gain a foothold in markets it considers strategic.
Another case of the 800-pound gorilla sitting anywhere it wants.