Operation: Top Secret

Since late last year, Palm has been quietly working to plug the holes that often allowed new product information to be leaked to the Internet.

Back in November 2007, several tarp-covered tractor-trailer semi trucks rumbled down the streets of Sunnyvale in the pre-dawn light.  The convoy’s destination, we now know, was 950 West Maude Avenue; Palm’s corporate headquarters.  Over the last several months I have been working to discover exactly what the clandestine delivery was all about.  After reviewing entries in the Palm purchasing system, I discovered an entry simply noted as “CoS.”  Anyone who is versed in classic TV knows the CoS can only be Cone of Silence as seen in Get Smart .  Apparently, Palm is putting their new acquisitions to good use.

While the though of Palm CEO Ed Colligan and Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein buying surplus Cones of Silence seems comical, whatever these two Palm executives are going to plug leaks it is working.

Think about it for just a minute.  Over the last few months, mum has been the order of the day when it comes to juicy rumors on the status of Palm OS II/Nova.  Any new information regarding the previously rumored Treo 800w has dried up.  No new information has surfaced since early January 2008 regarding the Palm “Drucker” and “Wanda” smartphones intended for Europe later this year.  These are just some of the examples of the exciting rumors that are no longer popping up.  There have been a few other more subtle changes in how Palm operates their business that I won’t get into.

At this point it is clear that Palm is working on projects in at least three areas: a new system platform; a new Treo footprint; and a refinement of Windows Mobile operating system used in some of Palm’s Treo smartphones.  Palm does acknowledge these projects but only to a point and then it becomes a cat and mouse game between Palm, the media, investment analysts, and enthusiasts. 

So why is there all of this secrecy at Palm?  Wouldn’t it just be better to allow the leaks to get a kind of viral marketing campaign going on the Internet about Palm’s up coming products and services?  The single biggest reason in my mind is for competitive advantage.  Palm is a much smaller company than their competitors.  At last check, there were only about 1,100 employees at Palm.  Keeping their plans secret until the very last possible moment has the potential to give a Palm a leg up on companies like Apple, Research In Motion, ACCESS, and others.  Keeping plans confidential allows Palm to work and in some cases rework a product and it’s launch cycle without everyone looking over their shoulder.  It would not have been humiliating to Palm to have to pull the plug on the Foleo had they not announced the product some four months in advance of a possible ship date.  Some people have begun to ask about the Treo 800w; the rumored Palm device that would replace the Treo 700w|wx on the Sprint and Verizon wireless networks.  It is entirely possible that Palm has decided to implement additional design changes and that work is being done out of the eyesight of the public.  And let’s not forget the iVentor and ChatterEMail acquisitions last year.  I’m sure the people and assets from those acquisitions are being put to good use, we just don’t know it yet.

There is another reason for all of this secrecy: future product planning.  While reading a recent RCR Wireless Newswire column, How to beat the iPhone and the BlackBerry , author Rob Enderle lays out four items that could empower a company to compete at the same level as Apple and RIM in the mobile computing space.  Wouldn’t you want to keep strategic initiatives that your company was undertaking under wraps?  I know I would.

In conclusion, Palm has to walk a fine line when dealing with their customers, the media, and investment analysts.  Sure they want people to get excited about the company.  On the other hand, they don’t want to share too much information too early and inadvertently giving away the nature of the projects already being worked on.  Releasing too much information on new hardware, software, and corporate strategy can give competitors time to develop competing solutions that can hurt their product sales.

What do you think?  Is Palm being too secretive?  Are they justified in doing so?  Let us know in the 1SRC forums by clicking the Discuss this article link below.