06-03-2003, 07:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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The PDA Vendor's Biggest Enemy: Disinterest In Upgrades
This is an interesting article: it specifically cites Palm and the difficulty the company has had in motivating people to buy upgrades. Of course, the data is skewed because of the fact that, until very recently, Palm devices offered little new, but the general problems confront all manufacturers.
"...many customers are so happy with their PDAs that the industry can't get them to upgrade -- and that sent PDA sales tumbling last year. Analysts say customer upgrades are essential for rejuvenating PDA sales because there don't seem to be many potential new PDA customers except at the low end of the market, where devices cost less than $100."
One argument I've heard in response to this is that cell phones are poised to close the gap and take over the majority of the organizer market. But are consumers upgrading those, either? Both markets should be busily working developing new killer apps -- and, indeed, some of them are getting close with things like integrated Wi-Fi for hotspots -- but only time will tell if this will click with more than "us gadgeteers".
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06-03-2003, 09:38 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 702
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They can't have it both ways.
A previous front page post was describing how OEM's were making money on accessories for their devices, and trying to make those accessories proprietary to keep customers coming back to that same brand.
I, like many other gadget geeks, am not loyal to a particular brand, but if no one develops a device that far exceeds what my current one can do, I am not inclined to shell out big bucks.
I like having the latest and greatest, but my wallet does not always agree. I have already purchased 3 different pocket pc's in 3 years, and I think I have hit a plateau for now. We haven't seen that great leap yet. I thought Xscale was going to do it, but no major speed jump. We haven't seen many devices coming out with a major jump in RAM or ROM. And, I have yet to see that killer device, that has all the goodies: built in wifi and bluetooth, removeable battery, CF and SD and built in keyboard/thumboard. Some have come close, and maybe that's what they want to do, to get people to buy and try different new devices.
It is definitely a problem for us as well as them. At what point do we justify spending another bunch of cash to get a new device and all the accessories for that device.
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06-03-2003, 10:19 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 7
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by nosmohtac
They can't have it both ways.
I, like many other gadget geeks, am not loyal to a particular brand, but if no one develops a device that far exceeds what my current one can do, I am not inclined to shell out big bucks.
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That is exactly why I am still using E-125, unless a PPC like genio e550c is available here (only available in Japan at the moment... :| ). In the mean time, I'll only upgrade if I managed to make it rest in pieces. :mrgreen:
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06-03-2003, 10:57 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 20
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It's like Windows and the PC market all over again, a little bit more speed here, a tweak in the OS there, tiny incremental changes that try to force you to keep on the ever upward path - strange the core functions (Diary / Contacts / Database / Jotter) never change, and are 80% of the PDA daya to day use in the normal user.
Why is it I still carry a HP200LX in my bag, carrying all my addresses and notes - even though I;'ve got a 5 hour colour PDA as well? Why do I tend top use that old machine for important details?
becasue (a) it's proved itself reliable (b) it works and (c) there is no need to change. It's a fallacy that you MUST have the latest and greatest thing - and now that PDA users have rumbled this - the maufacturers are in trouble.
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06-03-2003, 11:12 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 734
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by nosmohtac
I, like many other gadget geeks, am not loyal to a particular brand, but if no one develops a device that far exceeds what my current one can do, I am not inclined to shell out big bucks.
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Exactly! I bought a Compaq Ipaq 3630 in April 2000. After slightly over a year, the battery broke, and rather then ship it to god knows where and pay a zillion dollars, I sold it for a reasonable price [I allways expect them to break, so I don't worry about getting a certain price when I sell a device] and I bought a HP Jornada in November 2002. Now, the jornada is a 206 mhz device with only 32 mb ram and running PPC 2002.
I know there's better, newer devices out there; and some of those at a very reasonable price [Axims, 1915's, Toshiba's] but I'm not upgrading.
Why?
Because my device is still doing a great job! I can read my books, do my work, play games on it. Sure, some extra ram or a fast processor would be nice, but why spend >300 euro's on a device that, in essence, doesn't add anything to my current one?
And if I were to switch, I'd have to buy new accesoiries, memory, so the cost doesn't begin to make up for the benefits of a new device.
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06-03-2003, 11:12 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 140
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Cardie
It's a fallacy that you MUST have the latest and greatest thing - and now that PDA users have rumbled this - the maufacturers are in trouble.
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I totally agree with our lightsabre wielding Scott! ;-) I still think that the most stable mobile OS I've ever used is that used in the Psion Series 5. That never crashed!
Why is it some folk find it so difficult to understand that sometimes, people don't upgrade simply because they're happy with what they've got? I know what it's like to get the bug, the itch where I just gotta get that thing because it looks so nice! Hehe!
If you need a keyboard that you can wash in the washing machine, go buy one, otherwise, don't.
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06-03-2003, 11:53 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 37
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They just don't get it. Where do these companies get the idea that they are giving us reasons to upgrade?
My first pocket pc was an iPAQ 3670 I bought 2 1/2 years ago. It had a 320x240 color screen, 206mhz Strongarm processor, great mp3 sound, and 64mb of ram. Do the specs sound familiar? I upgraded to an iPAQ 3955 last year. It was a marginal improvement over the 3670 except for the gorgeous backlit screen. I could have waited longer to upgrade, but I wanted to give my 3670 to my Mom.
What improvements have desktop pc's made in 2 1/2 years? I think we have gone from a 700mhz Pentium 3 to a 3ghz Pentium 4 with corresponding improvements in storage and video.
I play DivX movies on my iPAQ 3955 and I could use twice the processing power. I'd also like to see demanding games like Pocket Quake playable on a pocket pc. (Be sure to invest a little time in beefing up the control buttons and their placement too).
When I see a significant increase in processing power I'll be the first person to upgrade. The processing power should be scalable though so people can cut back to conserve battery power. I don't worry too much about battery drainage. I have a 5gb Toshiba hard drive and have learned to compensate for battery drain by staying near to a wall socket and buying more batteries.
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06-03-2003, 12:20 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 11
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Totally Agree
Totally agree with all the posts so far. Currently using and HP568 with a Socket bluetooth card and see no reason to change.
I loved my Psion 5MX but it didn't like my Win2K machine at work and it became too much of a problem to keep it sync'd. Miss that keybaord tho......
However, I think the phone manufacturers have a better idea of how it works. I change my phone every year without fail and can't wait for the T610 to come out here in the UK, to replace my T68i. In my opinion every new generation of phones offers real benefits, like BT, battery life, colour screens and so on. It makes the �100 or so to upgrade seem worth it (especially as i always get that for my old phone).
�100 makes sense to upgrade. �300/ �400 for a new PPC does not, especially when the new processors don't actually make the apps any faster ! :roll:
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06-03-2003, 12:44 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 145
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5Mx there's a blast from the past.
I used to work for Psion and had many Psion handhelds. I had also seen what Spion were developing before they bottled out of the PDA market - damn shame!
A well executed Symbian based PDA would be brilliant.
Getting back to the topic - in the past I have upgraded PDAs far too often if I'm honest.
I'm about to change again; back from a Palm to a PPC - the new HP 2200 - but do believe that that device has what I need for the foreseeable future.
I'll be interested to see where PDAs and Smartphones go over the next 2 years.
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06-03-2003, 12:59 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 40
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I have the same way of thinking as a lot of people here.
I myself had a Sony Clie S500 sometime in 2000. It had a 256 color screen that had the same backlight problem as the M505, a 20Mhz Dragonball processor, 8Mb RAM, and an expansion slot. Many others came and went in the past 2 or so years, but I stuck with it simply because the new ones had nothing more to offer. MP3 player? I had to get a bigger memory stick and I already bought a cheap MP3 player. Bright Hi-Res screen? Don't need it and not worth shelling out a month's salary on. I then decided to upgrade to a PPC because it can do so much more for my money and because Palm Licencees took forever to get to the Zire 71, TT/C, TG50.
Also, I got the Axim Advanced for one reason: so I don't need to upgrade. Sure, I'll buy accessories and peripherals, but I don't see myself shelling out more money for a PPC2003 unit simply because they don't seem to offer any more than what I already have. No matter what anyone says, US$300 (which is, so far, the cheapest a new model is rumored to be) is a lot of money.
This is probably also the flaw in Palm's strategy with the original Zire. Sure a number of those who got Zires as gift might be interested in upgrading, but there are numerous practical people who wouldn't. I get a asked a lot by friends who still keep their PalmIIIs on why should they upgrade. What they have already works fine for them.
That's my 2 cents. Cheers!
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