The Price is Right

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://www.brighthand.com/newsite/features/stateofindustry_wednesday.html">http://www.brighthand.com/newsite/features/stateofindustry_wednesday.html</a><br /><br />Another in the "State of the Industry" series, Brighthand tackles the issue of price: how much money are people willing to pay for a PDA? Interesting results, although I wonder if the results would be any different if they were surveyed today (the Brighthand survey results are two years old)? Two years ago, no one had heard of the Pocket PC. Today, with a greater market and mindshare, would people be willing to pay for what the Pocket PC offers? Or is that sweet spot still $200 to $299? Has anyone encountered any recent survey results that address this?<br /><br />"What role does price play in the handheld computer market? Well, as with any consumer product, price is an important factor; I'm sure you've heard of the "four P's" of marketing: product, promotion, placement and, you guessed it, price. Sure, for some consumers, including many die-hard enthusiasts, price is no object, but for most consumers it is of paramount importance, and even more so when money is tight, as it is now with recent economic downturn here in the United States."

[kaiden.1]

Well lets see...... (prices are fairly accurate for estimation)

New IPAQ 3900 series
price $750
warranty $130
Sleeve needed for extra storage $ 125
Storage Card 128meg $90 (think 256 is more needed personally)
Better Case $50
Portable Keyboard $100
Tax $62 (base of 5% of total)

Total just to get started......$1307.00

WOW....... I could (should) of bought a DELL! 8O

(Inspiron 2650 laptop $1249.00)

Is it really that hard to decide what the public is going to do?

[Foo Fighter]

Is it really that hard to decide what the public is going to do?

Ha! Come on! Who wouldn't want to spend their hard earned money a $700+ handheld? :P

As much as I hate to say this, I believe PDAs are going to lose the mobile device war. Consumers are going to choose Smart Phones over handhelds. PocketPC will remain a niche platform for mobile enterprise (a big niche though). While PalmOS continues to rule the consumer segment as an affordable "do-it-all" organizer.

There isn't going to be a handheld revolution. Move along, there's nothing more to see here. :?

[DrtyBlvd]

I do agree that there isn't going to be a revolution - I think the guerilla war that exisits re market share will continue and the weapon of choice will continue to be the three available; WinCE / Palm / Smartphone.

I think a more pertinent question is what in terms of numbers; ultimately development is what we crave and we will pay what we will pay for it - whether that be based on desire or ability to pay.

As long as the item does what we want how we want it it will have a purpose and will sell - the longevity dictated by future developments carefully balanced by the economic drive of the Corporations selling them - take Sony as a prime example - I have had my fingers burnt by purchasing their 'new' thing only to have a VASTLY superior version available in three to six months - praise them for strategic marketing and damn me for desire.

As recent posts have mused, what is the VAST improvement that has occured in the ppc world? Bugger all I think is the answer; In the phone world? Same. But, in the new world of smartphones?

Woooooooo here we go again folks. Now where did I put that wallet and SIM card...

[Steven Cedrone]

Consumers are going to choose Smart Phones over handhelds.

I don't know. Although the Smart Phones are great devices, the screen is too small for it to be a replacement device for handhelds. My biggest concern is this: Palm (and it's licensees) have been aggressively addressing most of the issues that caused me to switch from that platform in the first place. I hope Pocket PC can grab more market share before Palm or its licensees can release a really good system (and Sony is on the right track). Palm has been doing nothing for all of these years, but with their name recognition and their market share, they could potentially kill the Pocket PC.........If given the chance.......

Just my .02!

Sorry to lead this post off topic......

[Foo Fighter]

My biggest concern is this: Palm (and it's licensees) have been aggressively addressing most of the issues that caused me to switch from that platform in the first place. I hope Pocket PC can grab more market share before Palm or its licensees can release a really good system [snip] they could potentially kill the Pocket PC

This is why I don't believe PocketPC is going to crush PalmOS and take over the PDA market. Multimedia is platform agnostic. And the upcoming PalmOS devices should deliver competitive functionality. But with the xScale fiasco, PPC seems to have taken a step backward in multimedia performance. At least for the time being. But what's going to happen if OS5 based PalmOS devices offer better performance, at lower prices? That's going to leave Microsoft with egg on its face.

The mobile/wireless market is still plenty big to support both Palm and Microsoft. But I suspect PocketPC is going to lose some of its momentum in the coming quarter. The lines which distinguish PalmOS from PocketPC are going to blur. That's going to be very bad news for Microsoft as there will be fewer reasons for Palm users to switch to PPC.

Who knows. Maybe Microsoft will start running a "Switch" campaign similar to Apple's. :P

"It was a horrid little machine. A tiny pea green display. I had to squint to read what was on there. But with a PocketPC...I'm so much happier. Now I can read anything. I get it! But I don't get the PalmOS...I never did.

- My name is Jeff Kirvin, and I'm a Writer."

:lol:

[Take1]

Instead of Palm, I think SONY is going to be the company to take Bill Gates behind the woodshed and deliver some high-perfomance spanking. Palm isn't mentally ready for the big time yet, while Sony's been chomping at the bit.

[DrtyBlvd]

Sony-Ericsson anyone? Give them 6 months and lets see the smart phones that turn out of their stables....

[Steven Cedrone]

Instead of Palm, I think SONY is going to be the company to take Bill Gates behind the woodshed and deliver some high-perfomance spanking.

On the Palm side, the real innovators are Sony and TRG/Handera. Those two companies really push the envelope with the severly limited Palm OS. Imagine what they could do with the Pocket PC OS. If the Palm OS evolves into a real OS, Pocket PC could be in for a tough time.....

[Jeff Kirvin]

"It was a horrid little machine. A tiny pea green display. I had to squint to read what was on there. But with a PocketPC...I'm so much happier. Now I can read anything. I get it! But I don't get the PalmOS...I never did.

- My name is Jeff Kirvin, and I'm a Writer." [/i]

:lol:

Dammit, Foo! I was reading this on my Jornada in the drive-thru line at McDonald's, and you almost made me rear-end the guy at the order window!

[Foo Fighter]

Dammit, Foo! I was reading this on my Jornada in the drive-thru line at McDonald's, and you almost made me rear-end the guy at the order window!

Ah, my plan nearly succeeded then. ;)