Maven Mapper's

Palm Chief Executive Officer, Edward Colligan showed a little moxi with investment analysts stating 

"They will have 30 days to return (iPhone) so we hope we'll benefit from that, if that happens,"

Source: Palm reports profit drop, expects iPhone effect | CNET News.com

Its hasn't been a safe bet to bet against Steve Jobs for a decade but the decade preceding that proved to be a safe time to be against Jobs. Its possible that Colligan is betting on Palm and Treo's consumer experience honed over the last decade. Palm learned some hard lessons about handheld devices that do not have keyboards, especially those that are phones.

The iPhone is essentially a glamorized beta device, while the Treo has been tested and refined year after year for quite a while.

The iPhone does show some innovation in displays and in the software, an Apple strength. However, software does not make a phone. A multi function device that combines an MP3 player/phone/wifi device/VOIP phone/text messaging device/email device is a long long way from Apple's comfort zone working with just little MP3 players that get knocked off by the dozen with any company that has half a brand.

I don't know if Palm will actually receive any of that return sale traffic from potentially disappointed iPhone customers, but I think his head is in the right place. Besides if iPhone is a stellar success, Palm will probably not last much longer anyway, so that kind of simplifies Palm's strategy. Thrive or Die.