10-19-2004, 04:00 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Sharp Zaurus Retreats To Japan
http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5438.html
Following in the footsteps of Sony and Casio, Sharp is pulling its PDA line out of the US and focusing on the market in Japan.
"Facing stuff competition and low sales, a Sharp representative has informed infoSync World that the company has decided to fully withdraw its Zaurus SL line of Linux-based handhelds from the US market and focus on its home market in Japan. The company will be selling through remaining SL-6000 handhelds already produced and will continue to offer support and service for existing products, but will not be producing or selling additional units or models in the United States. The Zaurus line will continue to be sold in Japan, where different models have been available and have sold much better than in other markets."
I can't help but think this is partially a result of Sharp using the Linux OS, especially at the premium prices charged.
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10-19-2004, 04:11 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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Re: Sharp Zaurus Retreats To Japan
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
I can't help but think this is partially a result of Sharp using the Linux OS, especially at the premium prices charged.
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I agree. Sharp has created some awesome mobile device hardware. If they had gone with the more mainstream PPC software I would have been a definite buyer, regardless of the premium price.
Just like Sony with their Clie line, it seems the Japanese manufacturers excel at hardware design, but never seem to make the leap with the software to take advantage of the cool designs. It just seems they don't understand the US handheld market very well. My guess is they figured this out and decided not to try any more.
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10-19-2004, 04:17 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 87
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Quote:
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I can't help but think this is partially a result of Sharp using the Linux OS, especially at the premium prices charged.
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I actually think the opposite, I for one, wanted to buy this device simply because it was Linux based, but they don't seem to ditribute the unit at all in Australia. I believe even in the US they only distributed selected models and didn't push them all that well, how can it work if you don't give it 100%
As for clie well the PDA market was dominated by Palm and them using Palm was not a bad decision (when they started), the models such as the SJ-22 (hires on a 0S 4 device) were brilliant, but then their more recent models were expensive and uninspired, yes the hardware in many ways was brilliant but using their own CPUs that were as slow as hell, was just a bad idea IMHO...
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10-19-2004, 04:40 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 64
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I liked the new device, but the lack of Wi-Fi in any new device automatically puts it on the "No Buy" list. Either way the hardware was cool.
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Mobile Gadgets: hp iPAQ 3715, Motorola MPx 220, Rio Carbon, hp Pavillion x5000, Panasonic DMC-FZ20, Canon Powershot S50
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10-19-2004, 08:39 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 545
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no no..don't blame Linux....
OK how many commercials did we see for the Zaurus? Anybody? The reason they failed had less to do with the OS they chose and more to do with the support on the other end, the Windows desktop. To develop for it, you were better off using Linux for obvious reasons. Sharp did nothing to make it easy for those who did not know Linux to develop apps for it. That's number one. Number two is after the 5600, you could not go and just buy one even if you wanted to. Everything was available online though. It's Sharps own fault, not the Linux core it used, that the Zaurus failed here. It was Sharp who implemented their stupid way of handling audio (your MP3 player played only through their headphones, not through the built in speaker). It was Sharp who did not ship thier devices with a sync solution tht worked reliably.
The Zaurus is the one PDA that will be guaranteed to have rom updates. Maybe not from Sharp, but OpenZaurus can always be updated even if your the one that has to do the updating. The open sourceness of the OS makes it a guarantee that as long as there's a willing group, the device has support UNLIKE pocket pc's.
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10-19-2004, 09:50 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 734
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I didn't even *know* they sold them in the US. And if they had sold them in Europe, I would've bought one for sure. The only Zaurus I've ever seen was the linux one with the sliding keyboard - but it was a german version, and two hundred euros more expensive then anything else!
I just don't get it. Of course it won't sell if you don't market it! *shakes head*
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10-19-2004, 02:12 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 545
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by bjornkeizers
I didn't even *know* they sold them in the US. And if they had sold them in Europe, I would've bought one for sure. The only Zaurus I've ever seen was the linux one with the sliding keyboard - but it was a german version, and two hundred euros more expensive then anything else!
I just don't get it. Of course it won't sell if you don't market it! *shakes head*
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Yes the 5500 and the 5600 were widely available and Best Buy had them. The 6000's only were available online in the US but you could buy one. IN fact, Amazon still has them in stock I think.
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10-19-2004, 02:57 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 98
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Linux was the biggest thing Zaurus had going for it, nothing could compare to it of pen-test tools and network apps:
http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?submen...rus/zaurusmain
In my mind what killed it in the US was being overpriced for the hardware and not advertising.
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10-19-2004, 03:34 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 19
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by IronGeek
Linux was the biggest thins Zaurus had going for it, nothing could compare to it or pen-test tools and network apps:
http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?submen...rus/zaurusmain
In my mind what killed it in the US was being overpriced for the hardware and not advertising. |
I concur. Overpriced in a big way. Also, the hardware was nice from a design perpective, but they felt cheap and had dim displays. I wanted to get a 6000 to use as a remote controller for my server, but the price was rediculous.
Sharp had an opportunity to really do something nice but never figured it out. Linux has the ability to become whatever they wanted it to be, and if they had thrown a bit more R & D into the product, they would have had a killer pda. All those apps just waiting to be made more pda-like. synching with any desktop. Free applications abound. What a waste.
I'm going to go look for a cheap 5500 to play with :lol:
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10-19-2004, 03:46 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,887
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Re: Sharp Zaurus Retreats To Japan
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
I can't help but think this is partially a result of Sharp using the Linux OS, especially at the premium prices charged.
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You think correctly.
A friend of mine bought one for his network admin duties; he ended up installing a packet sniffer app and using it solely as a (very cheap) network sniffer tool because, having grown used to the PPC PDA apps (especially the third-party apps) the Linux apps were so crude as to be useless to *him*.
The Zaurus is a good pocket computer if you *want* Linux in your pocket.
If you don't care about the OS and just want high-quality mobile productivity apps with depth, go elsewhere; Palm, PPC, or even Symbian.
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