05-28-2004, 10:30 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Sony To Abandon Clie And Palm OS? Could Be...
http://www.mobi-mania.com/index.php?xCnt=plus/comment&id=2840&title=Commentaire
The French site Mobi-Mania is reporting that Sony is making some changes to their handheld division. The translation is here.
Among the items listed are:
� They will go their own way with smart phones and Sony Ericsson under Symbian will be abandoned.
� The Clie is not in Sony's Mobile Electronic devices family, pictured below. The climbing Pocket PC marketshare is mentioned as a reason at the French site.
Interesting, but if it is true, it is not unexpected. I have never been able to figure out how Sony has come even remotely close to break-even on their Clie product line. They never really broke even 15% marketshare and their hardware has always been bleeding edge, which is expensive. And their lame memory stick policy hasn't helped.
What do you think? Are the rumors true? Will PalmOne be the only real customer of PalmSource? We are supposed to see an official announcement some time next week.
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05-28-2004, 10:45 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 740
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If this is true, Sony is going to have a VERY hard time selling their Memory Stick Storage Cards in the PPC arena. I hate propretary memory, and never did think much of the memory stick. Its over priced and more than twice the (physical) size of an SD Card.
If they can lose the Memory Stick and come out with some cool bleeding edge PPC and PPC-PE devices, they might get my business...
__________________
Kind Regards,
Christopher Spera
Gear Diary Review Team
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05-28-2004, 10:56 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,055
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If they can lose the Memory Stick and come out with some cool bleeding edge PPC and PPC-PE devices, they might get my business...
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Do you really think they're switching sides? This article makes me believe that Sony is leaving the handheld market altogether. There's no mention of handhelds in the "Mobile Electronics" category.. it's possible that Sony might choose the MS Smartphone OS for their new smartphones, but I think Sony is more likely to introduce their own OS.
I'm not surprised though that Sony's CLIE sales haven't been good. Their Palm devices were always really good, but they were also really expensive. Who wants to pay $700 for a handheld with a 2MP camera? Also, their low end devices were always unimaginative and overpriced.
However, I thought Sony was learning from its mistakes with its latest releases such as the TH55 and TJ37. Maybe sales just haven't been as good as expected? Could their problems with Palmsource also contribute to the decision?
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05-28-2004, 10:56 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 498
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They may cancel the Clie, but they never say they will produce Pocket Pc. There is NO enough room in Pocket Pc for SONY to make a profit, considering the always high price of their products.
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05-28-2004, 10:57 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 593
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If this is true, Sony is going to have a VERY hard time selling their Memory Stick Storage Cards in the PPC arena.
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But when Acer released their MemoryStick PPC, a lot of people were happy that they could use their MemorySticks from their nice Sony camera's.
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05-28-2004, 10:58 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,639
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If this is true, Sony is going to have a VERY hard time selling their Memory Stick Storage Cards in the PPC arena. I hate propretary memory, and never did think much of the memory stick. Its over priced and more than twice the (physical) size of an SD Card.
If they can lose the Memory Stick and come out with some cool bleeding edge PPC and PPC-PE devices, they might get my business...
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Chris, the way I read this is that Sony are getting out of PDA devices totally, not making a switch to WM OS.
It's tempting to think about though. I think we've all looked with some envy at the cool hardware that Sony customers have compared with the succession of boring tablet PPCs. A friend of mine is using the original Sony clamshell (I forget the model number) and it's still cool.
I think the Clie line could have been a great success if Sony had gone with PPC (or better stiill Linux) in the first place, at least the OS would do justice to the hardware. As it is, being stuck with POS and the corporate Memory Stick requirement has stopped the product line from reaching it's potential.
Still it will be a shame if they do leave the PDA market. There was an article at Brighthand about there being just two big guys left in the market before long, this looks to be a step towards that happening.
Removing Sony and their great designs is not going to help with fueling innovation. I'm sure my Zaurus was inspired by the swivelling screens on the Clie.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gremmie
But when Acer released their MemoryStick PPC, a lot of people were happy that they could use their MemorySticks from their nice Sony camera's.
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I wonder how many were happy enough to buy one. I've certainly never seen, or heard of, anyone with one.
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Cheers!
David
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05-28-2004, 11:05 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 498
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gremmie
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If this is true, Sony is going to have a VERY hard time selling their Memory Stick Storage Cards in the PPC arena.
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But when Acer released their MemoryStick PPC, a lot of people were happy that they could use their MemorySticks from their nice Sony camera's. |
You must know why Acer abandon memorystick in the second and third generation PPC.
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05-28-2004, 11:05 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 zkmusa
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If they can lose the Memory Stick and come out with some cool bleeding edge PPC and PPC-PE devices, they might get my business...
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Do you really think they're switching sides? This article makes me believe that Sony is leaving the handheld market altogether. |
That is my take. The PlayStation Personal is their future. THey are done with PDAs.
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05-28-2004, 11:24 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 300
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Quote:
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Originally Posted by zkmusa
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Spera
If they can lose the Memory Stick and come out with some cool bleeding edge PPC and PPC-PE devices, they might get my business...
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Do you really think they're switching sides? This article makes me believe that Sony is leaving the handheld market altogether. |
That is my take. The PlayStation Personal is their future. THey are done with PDAs. |
It would be a bad call for Sony to leave the handheld market. Common sense would dictate that they will continue to compete in a market that is still in its infancy and promises much growth. This is not the first time Sony faced bumps in the road as well. They have both the resources and the persistance to continue innovating and take chances. The only problem with their devices is the OS running on them. I also think that the proprietary nature of the company will not carry much weight should Sony decide to run WindowsMobile. Their share would increase substantially IMO. Keeping up with the capacities of SD clearly hasn't been a problem. Sony is also starting to open up to other formats, as can be seen in the new digi cam that accepts CF.
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05-28-2004, 11:36 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,887
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If true, this would be good for PalmOne but bad for PalmSource.
A lot of effort went into splitting the company and if SONY bails it would leave PalmSource at the mercy of PalmOne.
PalmOne, of the other hand, would stop being embarrassed by SONY hardware and they would have a shot at capturing at least half the CLIE share.
Of course, all this is predicated on SONY actually leaving the market.
If they stay, nothing changes.
If they jump to PPC, that would be a *major* black eye to the platform, when the premier innovator jumps ship that way.
Worth keeping an eye out, here...
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