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DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Palm Inc. (PALM) named former Apple Inc. (AAPL) executive Jon
Rubinstein as its chief executive, as the hand-held maker steps up
efforts to compete against the iPhone.
Rubinstein, 52 years old, joined Palm as executive chairman in
October 2007 - having left his post in 2006 as senior vice
president of Apple's iPod division - in an attempt to help bring
innovation back to the company. He is replacing Ed Colligan, who is
stepping down after 16 years with Palm.
The appointment comes at a critical time for Palm, which
released its much-hyped Pre smart phone over the weekend. The
spotlight was stolen somewhat when Apple on Monday unveiled a
new-generation model of its iPhone, and halved the price of its
entry-level model to $99.
Palm shares jumped 3% to $12.35 in after-hours trading after
closing the regular session down 5.6%.
"I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm,"
Rubinstein said. "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."
Rubinstein's appointment is effective Friday. He will remain
executive chairman.
Colligan intends to take some time off before joining Elevation
Partners, a venture-capital firm that has invested $425 million in
Palm.
In March, Palm said its fiscal third-quarter loss widened as the
company's smart-phone sales plummeted in what it called a
"challenging transitional period" ahead of the launch of the Pre
touch-screen phone. Some analysts have expressed concern about the
rapid decline of its aging product portfolio, but the Pre saw
strong sales over the weekend.
-By Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5964;
lauren.pollock@dowjones.com