Palm hopes high with Rubinstein at the helm

Palm's move to name Jon Rubinstein CEO may solidify the company's prospects and may foreshadow a series of design hits, according to analysts.

On Wednesday, Palm named Rubinstein CEO as Ed Colligan stepped down. The leadership handoff is expected to be seamless. Colligan will join Elevation Partners, a Palm investor.

The big question is what we can expect from Palm with Rubinstein leading the band.

A few key comments:

Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Walkley says:

We believe it helps ensure Jon and his talented development team remain committed to Palm long-term and helps ensure a successful launch of multiple carriers for webOS smartphones.

Cowen analyst Matthew Hoffman says:

Rubinstein has been effectively in charge of the company since Elevation assumed near-majority ownership of Palm in 2007. Rubinstein apparently has been involved in key decisions surrounding products (e.g. Pre, webOS) and people (the hiring of ex-Apple employees). Rubinstein has not been very involved with investors, leaving those duties to Colligan, and his responsibilities on that front will likely increase substantially.

JP Morgan analyst Paul Coster says:

This change simplifies the leadership structure and should make the firm more efficient and focused.

Add it up and Palm is expected to deliver a bevy of WebOS smartphones on multiple carriers. Hoffman notes that Palm's next milestone will be developing a Pre for the HSPA standard, which is used by more carriers.

Indeed, analysts are betting that Rubinstein can continue to enhance Palm's culture and contribute to resurgence. It's a bit of a stretch to think that Rubinstein is to Palm what Steve Jobs is to Apple, but the research notes seem to lean in that direction. However, some analyst expect Rubinstein to be aloof when it comes to investor communications. In other words, don't expect Rubinstein to be chatty.

Walkley says:

We believe Jon has driven positive changes within Palm's culture, and we anticipate he will successfully continue Palm's resurgence in the smartphone market. In fact, we believe Palm will deliver a family of Web OS based products with compelling form factors and industry leading features over the next several quarters.