04-04-2002, 05:46 AM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Shoppers Put PDA Plans on Hold
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,92543,tk,dn040302X,00.asp
Nothing terribly surprising here, but sales of handheld devices are expected to rebound once the wireless world starts delivering on promises.
"Worldwide shipments of handheld computers are expected to continue their slow growth in 2002 as the IT industry rebounds from financial woes and corporate users wait for more advanced wireless capabilities, a research firm says Wednesday. After a 114 percent gain in PDA shipments between 1999 and 2000, the uptake for such devices in 2001 and 2002 has been whittled down to year-over-year growth of about 18 percent, according to research from Dataquest, a unit of Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner.
...Before investing in mobile devices, many corporate customers are waiting for wireless carriers to upgrade their systems to support packet-switched networks, which are better suited to wireless data services, Kort says. Carriers such as Nextel Communications and Sprint PCS Group have said they won't roll out these advanced wireless networks until the second half of the year."
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04-04-2002, 07:50 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 192
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Corporate customers are always waiting for the next thing in just about every Gartner or Dataquest survey I think I've ever seen.
Since many companies have a $500 or higher threshold for capital (i.e., depreciated) expense, I think the PDA, generally, isn't seen as good business value...that's why the PALM is so popular (IMHO)...it's under the capital threshold and can be expensed! The Blackberry and PPC with wireless (now even Palm wireless) are all capital purchases...so of course we would wait! Who wants something sitting on the books for 3 years that doesn't really work very well and will be replaced in 2!!
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