07-21-2003, 11:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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The Real Cost of Toshiba Not Issuing a Windows Mobile 2003 Upgrade
The discussion in this thread is continuing, but after posting a lengthy response there, I felt it might be appropriate for the front page of this site. The upgrade scenario has long been a thorn in my site - with every generation of Windows CE-based devices, starting way back in the HPC days, there have always been OEMs who value their customers and issue upgrades, and those that do not. My friend David made this point in the above discussion thread, and I had a few things to say about it:
"Of course it's all about money! These companies are in business to make money for their stock holders, not to spend money on projects that won't give them a return. I know that sounds harsh, but for them to do otherwise would be a violation of their duties to their stockholders."
"Ah, but David, you're ignoring that fact that sometimes a company will chose to lose money on a move if the ancillary effect is beneficial in the long run. Let's say for example that Toshiba were to lose $1 million dollars on releasing this upgrade - let's say that their projections showed that not enough people would buy the upgrade, and the $1 million was the difference between their development & distribution costs and the profit they make when "x" users did buy the upgrade.
Now let's look at the costs of not providing this upgrade:
� Negative press in the mainstream media, hurting both Toshiba Pocket PC sales and other Toshiba products.
� Negative press from enthusiast sites like this one, hurting both Toshiba Pocket PC sales and other Toshiba products. I will personally never buy another Toshiba Pocket PC for a long time to come, nor will I recommend them to anyone else. I even tried to avoid buying a Toshiba laptop for my church lately, but ultimately I couldn't find anything else at that feature/price point. I'm looking at getting a high-end laptop for myself, and will not buy a Toshiba laptop out of principle.
� Negative impact from individual users. I've read many comments in these forums from people who work in the IT field, and have purchasing power in their enterprises, who have said that they will not purchase ANY Toshiba products any more, and are looking at alternative suppliers.
I firmly believe that the Toshiba brand and sales will take more punishment from this move than the money it would have taken them to release the upgrade.
It's short-sighted of Toshiba, and smacks of a lack of understanding of the North American market. From what I understand, in Japan it's very common to own a device for under a year, then sell it and get something new. The turnover rate is much higher over there, so I have a feeling Toshiba doesn't grasp the North American trait of using something until it stops working."
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