Taking on the iPhone
Jon Rubenstein, who joined smartphone maker Palm in 2007 from Apple as executive chairman, has taken over the roles of chairman and CEO from Ed Colligan, following the latter's 16 year reign.
While the move is not especially surprising, the significance of Rubenstein's heritage as the head of the Apple business division that created the iPod is profound.
After years of decline from its heyday as a handheld PC pioneer, Palm received substantial investment from private equity company Elevation Partners (whose investment team includes a former Apple exec and Bono from U2, and which will be joined by Colligan) in 2007.
This investment and Rubenstein's appointment have culminated this year in the launch of the Palm Pre, a powerful smartphone with its own OS. It seems to be positioned squarely against Apple's iPhone and with Rubenstein's influence we can expect to see a few similarities.
"I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm," said Rubinstein. "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."
"With Palm webOS we have ten-plus years of innovation ahead of us, and the Palm Pre is already one of the year's hottest new products. Due in no small part to Ed's courageous leadership, we're in great shape to get Palm back to continuous growth, and we plan to keep the trajectory going upward."
