Palm just might be starting to realize that, hey, you gotta have apps if you want to compete against the iPhone. To wit, Palm recently waived the $99 fee it formerly required developers to pay if they wanted to get their apps up on Palm’s app store. You know, the one that houses all of their 1,812 apps.
By way of comparison, the iTunes App Store has well over 180,000 apps while the Android platform has over 68,000. As a result, Palm is unfortunately getting lost in the mix, and without much developer attention, it’s hard to envision a scenario whereby Palm can actually do anything to remain relevant in the smartphone game. That is, if you assume that Palm is relevant now.
Things haven’t been going so well for Palm. They’re losing more money than analysts are willing to overlook, their stock is hovering under $5, and their senior VP of software and services recently decided to leave for the green pastures of Twitter.
In spite of all that, will Palm’s new fee-less development platform attract a throng of eager and determined developers? Doubtful. Actually, ‘doubtful’ might even be an understatement. Palm’s days appear be numbered, and with recent word that Palm is looking to sell the company, their latest move is akin to fixing a hole in a boat with a bandaid.
via Mobile Crunch
Wed, Apr 21, 2010
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