IT 100 Special Report 2006 >

THE INFOTECH 100 COMPANIES

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89

Palm

(NasdaqNM: PALM)

USA

The handheld maker continues to prove the PDA market isn't dead by creating new ways for people to store contacts and other personal information. The Treo, which combines a phone with e-mail capabilities, has become a darling of the business set and contributed mightily to a 26% jump in sales last year. With juicy 22% profit margins, the company's stock has risen 19% over 52-weeks.

Company Info
2005 Rank	Not Ranked
Sales* ($ Millions)	1,511.2
Sales Growth (over prev. year)	26 %
Profits* ($ Millions)	326.7
Return on Equity	34.9 %
Total Return on Sales (12-mo.)	16.0
Share Price As of 5/31/06	16.48
CURRENT MARKET INFO	NasdaqNM: PALM
No. of Employees	907
Industry	Computers & Peripherals
COMPANY WEB SITE >

*Trailing 12 months

Stock price data as of 5/31/06
DATA: Standard & Poor's Compustat

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Company Snapshot

Palm engages in the development, marketing, and sale of mobile computing and communication solutions worldwide. The company offers handheld computers, mobile communication devices, and mobile managers, as well as software, services, and accessories. It offers the Zire, Tungsten, LifeDrive, and Treo lines of mobile computing devices, as well as related add-ons and accessories. Palm's products feature wireless communication capabilities, such as Bluetooth, wireless fidelity, code-division multiple access, global system for mobile communications to enable messaging, email, Web browsing, and wireless ActiveSync; multimedia features, that enable users to capture and view photos, capture and view video clips, watch feature length movies, and listen to MP3 music; an infrared port for exchanging information between devices; a secure multimedia card (SD/MMC) slot for stamp-sized expansion cards for storage, content, and input/output devices; data synchronization technology that enable the device to synchronize with desktop applications, such as Microsoft Outlook; and productivity software, which allows users to create, view, and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files, as well as view and share PowerPoint presentations. Its add-ons and accessories include portable keyboards; SD/MMC expansion cards for storage and content; modems; and carrying cases. The company sells its products to distributors, retailers, e-tailers, resellers, and wireless carriers through its sales force; and directly to end users through its retail and online stores. The company was founded in 1992 as Palm Computing, and changed its name to Palm in 1999. Further, it changed its name to palmOne, in 2003 and back to Palm in July 2005. Palm is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

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Edward T. Colligan

Edward T. Colligan, 44

President and Chief Executive Officer

Total Compensation

$927,321

Value of Options

$10,571,870

University of Oregon - BA

Edward Colligan has been president of PalmOne (formerly Palm Inc.) since June, 2004; and chief executive officer since May, 2005; and also served as its interim chief executive officer since March, 2005. From October, 2003, until June, 2004, Colligan served as senior vice-president and general manager of the wireless business unit of PalmOne. Prior to joining PalmOne in October, 2003, Colligan was a co-founder and chief operating officer of Handspring. From October, 1998, through July, 2001, he served as senior vice-president of marketing and sales. Before Handspring, he was vice-president of marketing of Palm from January, 1993, to September, 1998. From 1986 to 1993, Colligan was at Radius, a provider of displays and graphics cards. He has been a director of PalmOne since May, 2005. Colligan holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon.

Executive Data provided by