Since launching the Palm Pre smartphone, Palm has been the “belle of the ball” if you go by the deal chatter as Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft and Dell have all been named as potential suitors reports Reuters.

The speculation of a deal has been driven by the promise of the Palm Pre and webOS software which has impressed industry analysts since its launch, and analysts along with bankers are saying Palm could catch the eye of any firm who wants to bolster their mobile presence and maybe offer a challenge against the iconic iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones.

However there may not be a deal in the near future due to Palm being too expensive. Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Bros has said “The biggest hurdle is the price, no one is arguing in terms of the merits. It boils down to price.”

Palm stock has quadrupled in 2009 on the back of the Palm Pre and webOS, and shares soured on the back of a rumour that Nokia was interested in bidding.