Michael Palma

What I think about Foxconn

A juggernaught in the industry that excels at execution and that is often relegated to just a low cost builder

A book I recommend to others or am currently reading

The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis, not the movie but the book is great, a search for the drugs that make Zombies and a great exploration of the history of Haiti and how the role culture plays in society.

If I could travel back in time and witness any event one would be

Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, our world got much smaller and global economics transformed in a few years and since then I think we have not progressed much except we can go faster

Someone I would most like to sit next to at a dinner party

Cheryl Crow - great music, and great stories.

Some of the countries I have visited for work or play

Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Canada, Iowa

One of my favorite toys as a child

Legos, the joy from building anything that came to mind from the pieces I had amassed.

Michael Palma is research manager with IDC, a leading industry research and consulting firm, where he covers the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM) industry and electronics manufacturing value chains as a well known analyst.

Prior to joining IDC, Michael ran his own independent consulting business and worked on Gartner's Dataquest IT Services team for five years. During his time as an analyst, Michael has tracked various parts of the IT industry including mobile computing; enterprise software, networking and communications, IT infrastructure and IT services professional services and outsourcing. While he has spent a significant time leading financial analyses of IT firms and industry forecast initiatives, Michael has also devoted time to looking at how IT services firms manage their business portfolios and drive innovation.

Michael has presented at industry conferences, to Wall Street analysts, and advised decision makers on competitive threats and their market opportunities. A rare native of Silicon Valley, Michael is a budding amateur photographer, working on a Website to share his images of the unusual destinations his travel bug has taken him to, including Cambodia, Costa Rica, Burma, Grenada, Laos, and Mexico. He is ably assisted by his Australian cattle dog, Sparky.