Michael Palma is a Research Manager for IDC’s Consumer Semiconductor and Electronics Manufacturing research initiatives within IDC's Enabling Technologies team. Michael leads IDC's Consumer Semiconductor coverage, investigating the market opportunities, competitive analysis, and development of semiconductor and other core technologies intended for the diverse consumer electronics field. Specifically, his coverage focuses on Tablets, eReaders, and the digital living room, including DTVs and set-top boxes.  Mr. Palma is also addressing the development of the home entertainment network, video processing, and embedded processors. Mr. Palma is also responsible for the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) Forecaster product. In this role, he examines the business models and strategies, manufacturing relationships, and future road maps of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers and original design manufacturers (ODMs). During his tenure with IDC, Mr. Palma has also worked on projects covering the electronics supply chain, PC motherboards, and several areas in the Embedded computing market, including automotive, industrial, and medical systems.

Prior to joining IDC, Mr. Palma had his own consulting practice where leading enterprise computing, software, and storage firms were among his clients. He worked with his clients to identify and understand strategic and tactical opportunities. Mr. Palma was also a Principal Analyst with Gartner Inc.'s Dataquest IT Services team, responsible for research into services R&D, market forecasting, economic and financial analyses, and quantitative primary research.  He also worked for Frost & Sullivan where he covered the mobile computing and CRM industries. Mr. Palma spent several years in sales prior to joining the industry analyst profession.

Mr. Palma holds a B.A. degree from the University of California, Riverside and a M.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Iowa.  Mr. Palma is an avid amateur photographer and has won several awards in local and international photography contests and has shown is work in a variety of venues in Silicon Valley.