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Old 03-21-2011, 04:00 PM   #1
borisb
Edge User
 
eDGe inventories almost completed dried up

I did a quick survey of most North American retailers of the EE and PE (as listed by enTourage) and more than half show no stock. Even the enTourage store itself no longer has the "Add to Cart" button for either device.

This could mean one of the following:
- the company is about to go out of business, liquidating as much inventory as possible to settle debts
- the company is readying a new product and clearing the distribution channels to minimize "dead" stock
- the company is experiencing supply problems (although they're made by Foxconn in China, not in Japan, and inventories were dwindling before the March 11 quake & tsunami)

A significantly improved 2.0 product would be intriguing, although I don't think I could justify shelling out $400-500 when my current eDGes are working quite nicely...
 
Old 03-21-2011, 04:09 PM   #2
sjarrel
Edge User
 
It's sad isn't it? I posted this before about the dutch retailers. Not only "out if stock", but "not available anymore".
Still fingers crossed for Entourage and the people there.
 
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Old 03-21-2011, 04:15 PM   #3
sarah11918
Edge User
 
I noticed TigerDirect.ca mentioned a lack of stock, and seemed to imply they might not be getting more. But strangely, the only place linked from E's own website as a Canadian seller shows all colours shipping within 3 - 5 days: http://www.journeyed.ca/product/sear...srch=entourage (Big edge, that is)
 
Old 03-21-2011, 04:20 PM   #4
borisb
Edge User
 
TigerDirect.ca recently was showing "Limited quantity - order while they last". The other Canadian retailer probably does low volume of sales, so if they ordered 10 of each colour, it could take them a while to move them. Amazon still shows about 4 of each in stock, too.
 
Old 03-21-2011, 04:24 PM   #5
Dr. T
Edge User
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by borisb View Post
I did a quick survey of most North American retailers of the EE and PE (as listed by enTourage) and more than half show no stock. Even the enTourage store itself no longer has the "Add to Cart" button for either device.

This could mean one of the following:
- the company is about to go out of business, liquidating as much inventory as possible to settle debts
- the company is readying a new product and clearing the distribution channels to minimize "dead" stock
- the company is experiencing supply problems (although they're made by Foxconn in China, not in Japan, and inventories were dwindling before the March 11 quake & tsunami)

A significantly improved 2.0 product would be intriguing, although I don't think I could justify shelling out $400-500 when my current eDGes are working quite nicely...
With the less-than-stellar reception the devices received and the huge competition in the tablet market, I fear it might be #1. At least we all have a good, working device!
 
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Old 03-21-2011, 04:50 PM   #6
borisb
Edge User
 
I'd say we'll know in 4-6 weeks (i.e., end of April). By then, there should be fresh inventory, or a new device announced (even if it's not ready for delivery at that time). If neither happens by the end of April, we perhaps can start planning memorial services, with or without the Froyo update in our hands. If the parrot is silent and shows no sign of life for a decent period, one starts to suspect it has passed, has expired, is no more.

Last edited by borisb; 03-21-2011 at 04:52 PM.
 
Old 03-21-2011, 04:56 PM   #7
NiaTrue
Edge User
 
I'm seriously concerned that they have either bitten, or are about to bite, the dust. I've been trying to get help from tech support for two weeks about a very serious problem with my Adobe ID not being associated with my eDGe. Despite numerous calls to the so-called tier 1 tech support, which has forwarded my problem to tier 3 tech support several times, I've gotten no response from the corproate office. If you call the main number, which is what tier 1 tech support suggested I do after they were unable to reach tier 3 tech support, you can't get an actual person on the line.

Not. Good.

Addendum: And their twitter account hasn't tweeted since Jan. 26.

Last edited by NiaTrue; 03-21-2011 at 04:57 PM. Reason: addendum
 
Old 03-21-2011, 05:16 PM   #8
thenzero
Edge User
 
It's resting.
 
Old 03-21-2011, 05:30 PM   #9
StevenP
Edge User
 
I am afraid that #1 may be the truth. I really hope not.

I want to add that I noticed that after Boris asked Snow if his update was really that painful to make Snow responded "Yes." Altough, over a forum their is not always an easy way to tell the tone in which something was posted (tongue-in-cheek of serious) I took it as being honest.

Last edited by StevenP; 03-21-2011 at 05:37 PM.
 
Old 03-21-2011, 05:37 PM   #10
borisb
Edge User
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NiaTrue View Post
Addendum: And their twitter account hasn't tweeted since Jan. 26.
With sladwig gone at the end of January, there are no Blog, Twitter or Facebook updates since then.

The lack of a replacement suggests perhaps a layoff rather than a resignation. But laying off your PR person is possibly not something you'd want to do?
 
Old 03-21-2011, 05:46 PM   #11
alex_edge
Edge User
 
Makes me feel that much better for just having scored a (used) full-sized Edge for $380! I do hope we at least get some of the promised updates, but my device(s) will suit me fine for a year or two and that's all I really expected of them anyway. The dualbook is such a good idea though--why hasn't anyone else gotten on board with that design concept?
 
Old 03-21-2011, 06:03 PM   #12
wateriestfire
Edge User
 
I just bought a ton of accessories... something tells me they won't be selling them for too much longer

Entourage is dead dead dead... but lets remember the good times we've had with them! remember when they were out of stock because they were selling like hotcakes in the beginning, remember the times when they finally released a ton of publishers, (now it looks like we're going to be getting our books elsewhere) It can still read PDF and Epub files! so we can convert other files into these and boom! it's working..

remember when the camera didn't work, blue-tooth didn't work, and we could only dream about some of the huge improvements they have made to it in the years..

Remember when they opened their app store and how cool it was! We thought naively perhaps, but it was a good hope, that maybe there was room in the market for us... NOPE

I hope they keep the book store alive for a while even if they stop selling the devices... they have more books here than the kindle for petes sake..

too bad people are running out for IPad, which never had and never will have any of the strong capabilities of an Entourage Edge...

I love this device and this company, and will not get another tablet for a long time... I have no regrets!
 
Old 03-21-2011, 06:20 PM   #13
alefor
Edge User
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thenzero View Post
It's resting.
Mate, that parrot wouldn't go "voom" if you pout 9 million volts through him.

All evidence to date points to an imminent demise. While I am not ready to hold a memorial yet, and I agree with waiting for that till the end of April as suggested by borisb. The lack of tech support, always a strength of Entourage is most concerning. The loss of staff, with no evident replacemnet, is very concerning. The lateness of an update is very concerning. The lack of any information is very concerning. If there were some great announcement coming down the pipeline, continuing to keep it a secret makes no sense. The only thing that makes sense is what has already been stated
 
Old 03-21-2011, 06:28 PM   #14
guyjack
Edge User
 
I just did a quick check of the people on their company profile page. Seems they have at least a one or two people gone from the company, but still have their pictures up. One of the others has their full, updated resume in their Linkd in profile...if I read into that correctly, I usually don't get my resume completely updated until I am having to start looking for a new job. Something is very up over there at enTourage. Wish we would just get the full news.

I, for one, would still be supportive of them even if they told us they were going a different direction, because they built us an amazing device!
 
Old 03-21-2011, 07:58 PM   #15
borisb
Edge User
 
On LinkedIn, I've found at least five developers/testers that have left enTourage since January. That certainly won't speed up the release of Froyo...
 
 

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