[Brian]

Originally Posted by Morpheus

That is interesting. What do you do if you fail to keep your leadership in one segment? You simply create a new one! PalmOne lost it with PDAs and smartphones; now we have the "mobile manager" device, for which, surprise surprise, PalmOne has a 100% market share. Sorry my sarcasm but I think this is a pathetic move. As if differentiating between PDA and smartphone isn't enough, we really don't need PalmOne introducing a third type of device!

I think PalmOne is merely going with market trends in handheld convergence. Jupiter Research and other research firms are predicting a "trifurcation" in PDAs with 3 forks. From Entelligence:The Future of PDAs:

The personal digital assistant (PDA) marketplace has increasingly trifurcated in terms of functionality and that’s likely to continue. We see the three functionality forks as follows: basic PDA functionality; basic PDA functionality with media centricity; and basic PDA functionality together with media centricity and wireless features. JupiterResearch believes that trifurcation in the market, combined with very different price points, precludes convergence on a single device or form factor. Business users will lean toward wireless-enabled devices, high-end consumers will focus on color and media-centric devices, while price-sensitive consumers will be well served by basic PDA functionality.

It's pretty easy to see PalmOne hitting all three of these forks with the Mobile Manager line, Tungsten/Zire lines, and Treo line in their press release:

-- Mobile managers are designed for customers who are eager to take full advantage of the trend toward "digital everything" -- from documents and email to music, images and video, as standalone files or in organized folders;

-- Handhelds attract customers whose first and foremost interest is in basic organization tools, such as calendar and contacts. These customers often incorporate additional applications and add music and images to their handhelds, but their central purchase driver is organization. palmOne's Zire(TM) branded handheld computers serve consumers, and Tungsten branded handhelds serve mobile professionals in this customer set; and

-- Smartphones attract customers whose primary interest is in a single converged device that is an outstanding phone that also delivers excellent email access and organization. The Treo(TM) smartphone from palmOne serves this customer set.

I do find this a bit interesting, as the Zodiac combined "work and play" about 18 months ago (and the Clie line to some degree):

"We'll bring to market a new type of product that simplifies our lives and makes work and play more productive and more fun," said Murray. "Stay tuned."

I hope PalmOne isn't trying to take "credit" for this "new" device category just because they put their own marketing spin on this market trend.

Brian





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