Two new licensees, two new versions of the Palm OS, and two new developer training centers add up to a major push for PalmSource into the lucrative Chinese market.
Aiming for one of the largest untapped handheld markets, PalmSource has announced a bold new three-part plan to bring the Palm OS to China in a big way. The announcement includes two new licensees, a new Chinese-modified version of the OS, and a new developer training center.
PalmSource has signed up two new licensees, both targeted at the Asia/Pacific Rim market and China in particular. The first is Legend Group Limited, a Chinese company that currently provides handheld and portable electronics and IT services in China. Legend will develop Palm OS-based handhelds specifically for the Chinese market. The second new licensee is Group Sense PDA Limited, a division of Group Sense Limited (GSL), which already manufactures and sells handheld electronic dictionaries and PDAs in the Asia/Pacific Rim market. Under the new agreement, GSL will build Palm OS based handhelds and smartphones for several Asian markets including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. Legend and GSL join Acer, another Palm OS licensee currently operating primarily in Asia.
To support the new push into China, PalmSource is opening a permanent branch and subsidiary in Hong Kong with a branch office in Beijing. They are also opening a new developer training center with Tsinghua-Solutions in Beijing and Zhong Shan University in Guangzhou. PalmSource is also developing two Chinese-specific versions of the Palm OS. Palm OS 4.2 CS will be a Simplified Chinese-specific version of Palm OS 4, designed for Dragonball-based handhelds, while Palm OS 5.3 CS will be a Simplified Chinese-specific version of Palm OS 5, designed for ARM-based handhelds.
Unfortunately, products won't be available immediately. The new Simplified Chinese versions of the OS won't ship until Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of 2003, respectively.
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