Las Vegas – TCL Communications, which markets smartphones and other mobile devices under the Alcatel One Touch brand, will resurrect Palm as a mobile device maker, the company announced during International CES.
TCL said it ‘’will create a new Palm Inc.” based in Silicon Valley to “take ownership of the Palm brand. “
The move “goes far beyond proposing a more advanced device,” TCL said. “It is to deliver absolute breakthrough innovations in technology, design, user experience, eco-system, marketing, supply chain, and business models.”
Palm will be “fully supported by the various assets of TCL Communication,” the company said without disclosing particulars, such as when the first products might become available and in which global markets.
If Palm adopts a high-end focus, the brand would complement TCL’s Alcatel One Touch brand, which focuses on affordable smartphones and tablets.
The Palm brand “has always been synonymous with innovation throughout its history,” TCL said. “As such it has consistently acted as a pioneer of mobile technologies.” TCL said it wants to “revive and bring back this pioneer spirit.”
Palm was a pioneer in PDAs and later began offering combination PDA/cellphones, then in 2009 developed 3G PDA phones based on its new WebOS. In 2010, Hewlett-Packard acquired Palm for $1.2 billion, but in late 2011, HP announced it would stop producing WebOS devices. WebOS was later sold to LG, which uses it in smart TVs.
