palm_pre Palm, the smartphone pioneer, is on the block. The company, which in recent years has been eclipsed by the iPhone (and to some extent by Google’s Android OS), failed to make much of a comeback with its most recent Pre and Pixi phones.

Now Bloomberg reports the inevitable: Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners have been tasked with finding a buyer for the ailing company, and bids may be sought as early as this week.

Bloomberg writes of the sale, “Taiwan’s HTC Corp. and China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. have looked at the company and may be potential bidders…Dell Inc. also looked at Palm, though it decided against an offer”.