What Palm does

Palm Ventures Group, Inc., operating as Palm, is a U.S. consumer-electronics company that designs, markets, and sells a compact Android smartphone branded the "Palm Phone." The device is a credit-card-sized handset measuring 50.6 × 96.6 × 7.4 mm and weighing 62.5 g, built around a custom 3.3-inch HD LCD at 445 ppi, a Qualcomm 435 octa-core processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, a 12 MP rear camera, an 8 MP front camera, a billet-aluminum mid-frame, Corning Gorilla Glass, IP68 ingress protection, Face Unlock biometrics, and USB-C charging. It runs Android 8.1 with two proprietary software layers: "Life Mode," which silences calls and notifications whenever the screen is off, and "Quick Actions," which lets users long-press app icons to launch common tasks.

The company distributes the handset direct-to-consumer through its own e-commerce storefront at palm.com (hosted on Shopify) as a U.S. carrier-unlocked SKU compatible only with Verizon and its subsidiary/MVNO networks (Visible, Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, US Mobile, Ting Mobile, etc.) and explicitly incompatible with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Target customers are individual consumer personas — minimalists seeking digital detox, athletes who want a workout companion, and families using it as a child's first phone or a backup device — and pricing is not publicly disclosed. The legal entity is incorporated in California with a mailing address at 461 2nd Street #337, San Francisco, and the storefront currently lists zero purchasable SKUs, with Terms of Service and Privacy Policy last updated in 2018 and 2019 respectively, indicating limited ongoing commercial activity. Note that the firmographic metadata in this dataset (1992 founding, Sunnyvale HQ, NASDAQ:PALM ticker, 251–500 employees) describes the historic Palm, Inc. PDA business acquired by HP in 2010, and the seed-round and Amex Ventures capital events referenced in the source material apply to a separate Sweden/Netherlands-based fintech also named Palm rather than to this hardware entity.

Name

Palm

Legal name

Palm Ventures Group, Inc.

Website

https://palm.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Palm Ventures Group, Inc. designs and sells the Palm Phone, a credit-card-sized Android smartphone distributed direct-to-consumer via palm.com as a Verizon-unlocked secondary device for minimalists, athletes, and families in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Compact Consumer Smartphones

NAICS

Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing (33421)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer Tablets (HDACAMAA)

Keywords

• Compact smartphones
• Minimalist mobile devices
• Digital wellbeing hardware
• Consumer electronics
• Credit card phone

Headquarters

HQ city

Sunnyvale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales: Sale of Palm compact smartphones directly to consumers through e-commerce. Device is sold as a standalone product for individual purchase.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Palm designs and sells a single credit card-sized Android smartphone (the Palm Phone) as a secondary, distraction-reducing mobile device for individual consumers. The 3.3-inch HD device runs Android 8.1 on a Qualcomm 435 octa-core processor with 12MP and 8MP cameras, IP68 durability, and proprietary Life Mode and Quick Actions software, sold unlocked for use with Verizon and its subsidiary networks through palm.com.

Product overview

Palm offers a single unified product: a compact smartphone designed as a secondary device for users seeking to reduce screen time. The Palm Phone features a 3.3-inch HD display, dual cameras (12MP rear and 8MP front), Life Mode for distraction-free living, Quick Actions for rapid app interactions, and Face Unlock security. The device runs Android 8.1 on a Qualcomm 435 octa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. Built with a billet aluminum mid-frame and Corning Gorilla Glass, it is IP68 water and dust resistant.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Palm Phone

Quantifiable outcome

• All-day battery life with typical use including talk time (3h 20min), GPS workout (4h 45min), and music streaming (5h 30min LTE / 6h WiFi)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Regional players

• Cat Phones (Bullitt Group): Cat Phones (by Bullitt Group) makes rugged smartphones for industrial/field workers and active lifestyles. While not minimalist-positioned, Cat phones compete for the 'active lifestyle / take it anywhere' buyer Palm targets with athletes, and offer IP68+/MIL-SPEC durability in compact rugged form factors.

Broad incumbents

• Apple: Apple is the dominant incumbent in smartphones (iPhone) and wearables (Apple Watch). While not a direct minimalist-phone competitor, Apple's Screen Time, Focus modes, and Apple Watch with cellular directly address the digital-wellness and workout-companion use cases Palm targets, and represent the largest competitive threat to Palm's thesis.
• Samsung: Samsung is the largest Android smartphone manufacturer globally (Galaxy line) and a major wearables player (Galaxy Watch). While Palm is a niche compact phone rather than a Galaxy competitor, Samsung's foldables and Ultra models compete for the premium buyer who might otherwise buy a Palm as a secondary device.
• Nokia (HMD Global): Nokia/HMD Global continues to sell feature phones and basic smartphones (e.g., Nokia 2780 Flip, Nokia C-series) targeting users who want simplicity, affordability, or a backup device. While not minimalist-positioned, Nokia's basic phones compete for the 'secondary device' and 'family/kids' segments Palm also addresses.

Direct peers

• Punkt. Punkt. makes premium minimalist feature phones (MP01, MP02) targeting consumers who want to disconnect from smartphones. Like Palm, it occupies the design-forward, low-distraction mobile device niche with a premium price point, though Punkt.'s devices are non-smart feature phones rather than compact Android phones.
• Mudita: Mudita makes the Mudita Pure (minimalist feature phone) and Mudita Kompakt (compact Android smartphone), with a 'digital minimalism' thesis and own-OS (MuditaOS). Directly comparable to Palm's compact-Android-with-mindful-software positioning, and a credible alternative for the same buyer.
• Light Phone: Light Phone makes minimalist, distraction-free phones (Light Phone II and upcoming Light Phone III) targeting digital wellness and intentional living. It is the most direct competitor to Palm in the 'dumb phone alternative' niche, sharing the same anti-smartphone-addiction thesis, premium minimalist positioning, and direct-to-consumer model.

Emerging players

• Garmin: Garmin makes GPS sports watches (Fenix, Forerunner, Vivoactive) with music, notifications, and on some models cellular connectivity. As an alternative for athletes wanting to leave their phone behind during workouts — Palm's stated primary athletic use case — Garmin is the most direct substitute in the workout-companion segment.
• Unihertz: Unihertz specializes in niche compact and rugged smartphones (Jelly, Titan, Atom series) targeting users who want small or unusual form factors. It overlaps with Palm on the 'credit-card-sized phone' thesis with the Jelly line, though its audience skews more toward rugged/experimental gadget buyers than digital-wellness minimalists.
• Boîtier Rouge / Rabbit R1: Rabbit R1 is a compact AI-first consumer device (credit-card-sized) designed as a phone companion/alternative for intentional, app-free interaction. Although AI-focused rather than minimalist-wellness, it competes for the same 'carry-along companion device' pocket in the consumer's life and the same target persona seeking digital simplification.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/palm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Palm