macattack

Brighthand just posted an article that claims, among other things, that there is evidence that Sony may leave the handheld market. Has anyone else seen such "evidence" at other handheld-centric web sites or anywhere else?

Here's the link: http://www.brighthand.com/article/two_horse_race

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Insider

Why not buy off Palmone, they should have more than enough cash reserves to do so, it will make them among the top players in the PDA market along with HP.

The new models could be called "Palm Clie" instead, just my 2 cents...

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hamsammich

I just can't bear to think the Clie would be dead. But, as with all things I end up liking and supporting, they usually end up defunct.

ClieKun

Well resently that sight post toshiba leaving the PPC market and palmone being bought out by Dell?...........So to see them do a piece on Sony is only a natural progression ohboy!

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viper_2_4

if you read the article it says that sony is "re-evaluating its position in the handheld market", not pulling out. This could mean that they are going to perhaps focus more on business orientated handhelds and less on multimedia features, or a lot of other things. I think its jumping to conclusions that Sony will pull out of the market, but they may start to have handhelds that are marketed towards a different market than the current ones.....

ClieKun

That taking this issue alittle deeper then already assumed. Could be thou Sony has said in the past they are aiming for business type devices. But "Leaving the market" is just at leaving. Just aanother way to see this point

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macattack

You're right. The article doesn't say explicitly that Sony is leaving the market, but it is clearly intoned by the theme of the article, which seems to imply that in the not-too-distant future our only handheld options will be Dell and HP. Clearly, Steve Bush at Brighthand thinks there is some evidence to imply that Sony may fold their tents and go home.

I hope there isn't a grain of truth to that assertion, personally. I have an NX80, and it is the best all-around handheld I have ever had (and I've had more than a few). The unfortunate truth, in this case, is that Steve Bush usually has a good finger on the pulse of the handheld market and most of Brighthand's speculations have a significant grain of truth in them.

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madmaxmedia

The article is mostly speculation, based on the idea that the PDA market may be ripe for some sort of consolidation into a couple of main players. With the market flat or slightly declining, this may very well happen.

A lot depends on whether Sony's CLIE division is profitable or not. If they are significantly in the black, I don't there's any motivation for Sony to exit the market in the near-term. However, if they are only breaking even or losing money, I could see Sony exiting or perhaps trying to sell off their CLIE division/assets.

Another factor is Dell's entry into the market. They always shave profit margins in the markets they enter, this makes it even harder for other PDA makers. Sony can no longer release $800 PDA's and expect them to sell in significant numbers. Of course, some will still buy, but many will then be lured to PPC.

Bottom line, if Sony comes out with some more innovative and price-competitive Clie's this year, I think they will sell well (like the TH55) and do fine. I think the TJ37 is also nice, offering Wifi at a great price point. But if they stumble, then they may end up exiting the market if their market share goes down further.

Sony as a whole is not very profitable in many of their divisions, it's largely been their Playstation 2 that has been generating the most profit. So there's internal pressure within Sony as well.

PS- It would be fascinating to see HP enter the Palm OS market.

sindu

Sony out of PDA, the future product ? Nah.....

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gfunkmagic

If Dell buys out PalmOne, then I see a definite incentive for Sony to buyout PalmSource. Recall, Sony has already invested more than $20 million into PalmSource in the past and Sony's CEO has previously mentioned that he was interested in buy the software company!!

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marukosu

This is interesting:

yahoo news

Among other things, it states:

and:


Could it be that the PSP will include some other, PDA-type, features as well?

wshwe

Sony lacks the incentive HP and Dell have to stay in the PDA maket. Sony is primaily consumer-oriented, not business-oriented.

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BMEngineer

No wonder no news about new CLIEs from Sony nowadays....

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gfunkmagic

Good grief people! You do realize Sony just announced the TH55 & TH37 only a couple months ago!!! What do ya want...an new pda every month! Just wait for the Cobalt Clies later that fall...

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