Rumours are swirling that Nokia and Motorola are just two of several companies on the verge of buying smartphone manufacturer Palm Inc. for up to $2 billion. The rumours suggest that the deal will be struck later this week.

This will be an interesting one to watch. Both Nokia and Motorola have existing strong smartphone products (Nokia has its E-Series smartphones, while Motorola has the Motorola Q), so it’s difficult to see what they could gain from any buyout, other than taking out a competitor.

Palm are apparently preferring a private equity deal, with Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners rumoured to be in the running. All potential buyers naturally refused to comment, though, but the rumours have sent Palm’s share price up 5% in the past couple of days (and 33% in the past few months), which must please Palm shareholders.

[Source: Reuters, Unstrung]