Palm Hires Former Apple Engineer as iPhone Launch Looms

7:05 am on March 12, 2007 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Corporate

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With the launch of Apple’s iPhone drawing ever closer, Palm Inc. has hired Paul Mercer, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and former Apple programmer, to help it hold its position in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.

Mercer worked at Apple for several years before founding his own company, Pixo Inc., in 1996. Pixo was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2003.

Palm’s appointment of Mercer comes as the PDA pioneer mulls its strategic options, including the possibility of selling itself to another company.

Palm’s flagship product, the Treo smartphone, remains a popular contender in the wireless voice and email market, but has recently faced heavy competition from the likes of Nokia, Motorola, and Research In Motion. The long anticipated Apple iPhone, which incorporates the functions of a cell phone, wireless music player, and handheld multimedia computer, is set to hit the U.S. market in June.

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    1. Paul Mercer was a programmer at Apple, not an Exec, unless i missed something.

      he wrote a large part of the System 7 Finder, and the first version of the iPod software.

      Comment by Martin — March 12, 2007 #

    2. Thanks, it looks like you’re right. He was a high-ranking programmer and engineer but never actually held an executive role.

      Appropriate corrections have been made.

      – Editor.

      Comment by Jeremy — March 12, 2007 #

    3. Do you think this is that bad for Apple or that enrichment for Palm?
      I dont think so.

      Comment by Jan — March 13, 2007 #

    4. Seems like Mercer wasn’t even with Apple when the iPod was coming out. This article is a little misleading. The title made me think that Palm “stole” someone huge from Apple. I don’t think Palm has anything to worry either. They offer a different phone anyway. Apple targets general consumers while Palm targets a more specific audience.

      Check out my blog for a preview of the iPhone features

      Comment by vic — April 2, 2007 #

    5. Apple will always win in my mind vs. anything. The company is so popular right now and has great marketing. http://ethernetline.com

      Comment by john — November 20, 2007 #

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    Published by TeleClick Enterprises
    Edited by Jeremy Maddock