06-01-2004, 03:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Sony's Clie Line Is Leaving The US
http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2082
The rumors we mentioned last week of Sony abandoning the Clie line and PDA market are getting clearer. Sony will leave the US PDA market for now. The Clie line will continue in Japan though. Bargain PDA has more info.
"Sony has informed us that they will not release any new Clie PDAs this year in the US. The Clie line will continue in Japan though. This move is of course devastating for a number of reasons. We have all the details along with five different takes on what this move means to the PDA world. We had a conference call with Sony last week to discuss what we thought was going to be about the new Clie releases, hopefully something with OS 6. Much to our chagrin, Sony started by reading a very brief statement that clearly indicated their intent to vacate the PDA space in the US for at least the remainder of this year."
Bargain PDA also feels this will shift the balance to Microsoft and its OEM partners. "But the issues here are much more severe than Sony deciding to step away for a breather. palmOne is now stuck in a very precarious position. They�re now much like the Apple of the computing world - the only major licensee of the Palm OS. Sure there are dozens of other licensees, but combined, they don�t have the visibility or sales of Sony. The exit by Sony will certainly mean a shift in the balance of power to Microsoft. The race between Palm OS and Windows Mobile was so close already, there�s no other reasonable outcome. Surely palmOne will scoop up plenty of prospective Sony buyers, but it�s impossible to capture all of them. With Dell releasing the new X30�s at such an amazing price and HP coming out with 7 new PDAs in the next several weeks, Microsoft has to be feeling very good about their place in this market. This shift could end up hurting palmOne badly, if their next round of releases doesn�t keep pace with their past few."
What do you think this means for the Palm OS and overall PDA market?
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06-01-2004, 03:09 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 23
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All Palm has now is the Treo, I guess they are glad they bought a money losing company recently (Handspring).
Wonder how Dell will view this? 8O
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I'm not as dumb as I look
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06-01-2004, 03:23 PM
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Editorial Contributor
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5,411
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Certainly can't do anything but help MS. Kind of a shame really, since competition is what drives advancements and innovation in the electronics market. I remember us talking about how liitle Palm advanced in the years before PPC.
It'll be interesting to see where Clie users go, if that is possible. I can't believe they were attracted to the devices for the Palm OS. I wouldn't think the 'simplicity' of the OS was what was attracting folks to the Clie. I expect it was the Sony hardware innovation. I don't see folks that were drawn to the high end Clies, going for a Zire.
Would be nice if Sony adopted the MS OS. I think we'd finally see somethng other than the norm.
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Sometimes you are the anteater, sometimes you are the ant.
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06-01-2004, 03:26 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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Re: Sony's Clie Line Is Leaving The US
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
What do you think this means for the Palm OS and overall PDA market?
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I think this is potentially a fatal blow to the Palm platform, which is now down to just ONE vendor; PalmOne. Sony's name gave tremendous credibility to the PalmOS brand, and was a leader in handheld innovation (UX50). Without that, you have to wonder if PalmOne can survive alone against HP, Dell, and Toshiba (for now).
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06-01-2004, 03:27 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 12
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It wasn't unexpected ... But it's always painfull ...
The End Of An Era  .
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06-01-2004, 03:27 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 63
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this is sad.. Sony had the first palmOS with built in mp3 player..... first with built in camera... a major innovator in the pda community....
palmone better come up with some brilliant stuff, or people will start to leave the PalmOS market soon..
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06-01-2004, 03:34 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by outdoor
palmone better come up with some brilliant stuff..
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That..or PalmSource needs to quickly sign on a brilliant new licensee commited to the PDA market. Which I don't see happening anytime soon.
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06-01-2004, 03:36 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by outdoor
this is sad.. Sony had the first palmOS with built in mp3 player..... first with built in camera... a major innovator in the pda community....
palmone better come up with some brilliant stuff, or people will start to leave the PalmOS market soon..
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Sony had style - there is no doubt of that. But an innovator? I can't think of a single thing Sony did with the Clie line that some Pocket PC vendor hadn't already done - except for the ill-fated UX50 and NR/V/Z huge formfactor devices, but those didn't do anything that the HPC didn't do back in 1998.
Sony pushed the envelope in style, but not features, not in the PDA community anyway. They may have been considered "innovative" if you put blinders on and only looked at the PalmOS line. :wink:
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06-01-2004, 03:42 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 497
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I see a Sony branded PPC in a year or so.
Just my 2 cents.
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HTC Thunderbolt
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06-01-2004, 03:45 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,466
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ntractv
I see a Sony branded PPC in a year or so.
Just my 2 cents.
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I don't. Sony is exiting the PDA business to focus on the PSP. PDA's were a dead market for Sony to be in. Changing OS strategies won't reverse that trend.
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