Underdog Palm is trying to become the next Apple.
Palm on Tuesday tapped former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein to become chief executive officer. The move comes as the beleaguered handheld devices company gears for battle against the iPhone maker with its Palm Pre smartphone.
It’s no small secret across Silicon Valley that Palm has been raiding the executive ranks of the iconic digital devices maker--and that Apple has done likewise to its rival.
Mr. Rubinstein takes the CEO post on June 12, when Ed Colligan plans to step down after 16 years of leading the company to take time off and then join private equity firm Elevation Partners.
Palm shares climbed $0.45, or 3.75 percent, to $12.44 in after-hours trading after news of the executive change.
Mr. Rubinstein has been widely credited for helping to create Apple’s first iPod as well as push its Mac line into better market position. He came to the Mac maker in 1997, when the company was financially struggling and had no influence in digital devices. He left the role of senior VP at Apple’s iPod division in 2006.
He joined Palm as executive chairman of the board in October 2007, when Elevation Partners took a stake in the once-pioneering handheld maker.