Palm Jumps on Report That Sony Covets Unit

Licensees, including Sony, Samsung, Garmin and Palm itself, currently pay PalmSource a fee in order to manufacture devices using the Palm operating system.

Analysts wondered if the division would make sense under Sony's ownership. "It flies in the face of most [operating system] platform strategies -- to get a large base of users," said wireless industry analyst Bill Crawford.

Sony's reported comments also could indicate division among the Symbian consortium, to which it belongs through its handset joint venture Sony Ericsson(ERICY Quote). Symbian, which creates next-generation phone operating system software, is owned by a collection of the world's largest handset manufacturers, including Nokia(NOK Quote), Motorola(MOT Quote), Sony Ericsson and Matsushita.

A Symbian spokesman declined to comment on the matter.

Symbian was formed about five years ago to counter any effort Microsoft might make to get into the wireless phone business, with Nokia leading the charge.

"[Sony's comments] indicate a less-than-100% commitment to Symbian," said Crawford, the analyst. "Symbian, to me, is turning into Nokia's operating system. It's become less and less of a consortium."

Other major co-owners of Symbian recently have shown varying degrees of loyalty. Motorola recently told investors it planned to use the Linux operating system in its upcoming feature-rich phones designed for high-speed wireless networks.