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Handspring Delays Treo, Plans To Drop Organizer Line

Posted by timothy on from the waiting-for-a-visor-sale dept.

backlonthethird writes: "http://www.palminfocenter.com has the scoop on Handspring's triple announcements yesterday. CEO Donna Dubinsky says they're dropping "Organizers," (i.e. visors?), and most of their new Treos are going to Europe because of a parts shortage. At least their losses this past quarter aren't as bad as people were expecting--they claim profitability by this Summer. What the heck is going on over there?"

5 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. I have no idea... by SerpentMage · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I looked at the Treo device and thought really cool.

    But some poster mentioned that the PDA market is collapsing, or the PocketPC is eating everyone's lunch.

    Well I do not know. Here is what I do know. Companies are not allowing things like Blackberries anymore (PDA inclusive). I have owned about 5 PDA's in different form factors and the result is that I use none of them.

    So I kept thinking why this is the case? The answer is that I have several notebooks and I find the problem with PDA's is that there is simply not enough space. I get quite a bit of email and documents. A PDA just sucks. However, notebooks have become small, work everywhere, etc, etc.

    So I think the black knight is the notebook market.

    --

    "You can't make a race horse of a pig"
    "No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
  2. Palm OS is better suited to phones anyway. by Angerson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sure, it's a gamble for Handspring, but it might just pay off. I've used both PocketPC and Palm OS devices extensively and found that if you want a lightweight, mini-pc, the PocketPC is far better suited to this. However, if you want something really lightweight (as in both form and function), the Palm OS is a nice addition to any phone.

    In fact, I've got a Samsung Palm OS phone right now and it's a truly wonderful hybrid device - perfect for my needs. I can't wait to see what these new Treo phones bring to the table, especially the color model (should Handspring hang around long enough to deliver it).

    --
    DigiSquid Design.
  3. Re:What the heck is going on: by fmaxwell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And the funny thing is that they are being killed by a better product.

    No, they're being killed by a different product. The Palm OS machines are intended to be inexpensive, practical organizers -- not undersized laptops or $500 status symbols. Palms trade things like MP3 playback and glitzy graphics for battery life, light weight, small size, and low price.

    Palm OS devices are incredibly practical to someone who needs a powerful organizer for their work -- which is why medical professionals love them. For some kid that's looking for a fancier version of a Gameboy to impress the other kids, the PocketPC machines may be appealing:

    Dudez, im righting this email on my iPaq and listening to a Rancid MP3! iPaqs rule! Palms are seriously gay!

    The grown-ups will continue to buy Palm as long as they are available.

  4. Burned Springboard Developers by libertynews · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Handspring has just destroyed the Springboard and Visor markets with these statements. I am lead programmer for Shine Micro Shine Micro, maker of the SM2496 DSP module for the Visor, and we have been working hard to bring our product to market. Currently it is in Beta testing, but it now appears that we are going to have to redesign for a different platform, or dump the project entierly.

    The quote was that the will be exiting the PDA market "but not today". That doesn't provide any kind of reassurance to any of the Springboard deleopers who have invested a great amount of time and effort into what is now a dead product line.
    Yes, all product lines are finite. But you usually don't have the manufacturer announcing this fact prematurely. I don't see any reason for someone to buy a Visor or a Springboard module now that they know that the support will not be there sometime in the near future.

    It sounds like Handspring is turning into a fancy cellphone company. I don't think that they will survive this move. The Visor and Springboard are a good product and would have carried them far into the future (just look at Palm).

    Brian Lane
    Lead Programmer
    Shine Micro
    Maker of the SM2496 DSP module

    --
    Remember Lexington Green!
  5. Re:Makes sense. by TheMCP · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The market for PDAs in the states is collapsing, and Handspring's wireless devices are depending on a functioning GSM network, which is still semi-mythical in the states.
    GSM may be one of the least popular systems in the US, but it's the system everywhere else. Why do you think every other country has more advanced phones than we do? Because phone manufacturers can make one model and sell it all over the world, but then they have to re-engineer it five different ways to make five different models to bring it to market in the US.

    So, mostly they don't bother - they sell all their interesting models everywhere else, and sell a few models in the US that are most easily re-engineered to work here.

    My friends at Nokia tell me the phones we have here are 2 or 3 years behind Europe.