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Sony Exits US Handheld Market

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the end-of-the-clie dept.

10999 writes "Today Brighthand reports that Sony will no longer develop and sell Clie handheld models to the United States market. Most certainly that means no more Clies for Europe, too."

6 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Dumbasses by metamatic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, if they hadn't removed the Bluetooth from the TH-55, I'd have bought one. *sigh*

    Now I have to wait for Palm to come up with something comparable.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    1. Re:Dumbasses by swordboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, if they hadn't removed the Bluetooth from the TH-55, I'd have bought one. *sigh*

      Once again, people seem to be forgetting that Sony doesn't cater to the "one percenters" here on slashdot. The fact of the matter is that Sony probably put a lot of money into researching this decision. I bet that they've found that most of the market will be going into PDA phones and the like.

      If you haven't worked in an enterprise environment, then you haven't witnessed the dominance of Blackberries as of late. This is the future. Combined with Intel's upcoming personal server, people will have a "local replica" of all of their data to take with them. As they say in Soviet Russia, "the PC will log onto YOU". It won't matter if it isn't your PC - as long as it is "digital briefcase" compliant, it will wirelessly recognize your personal server and give you the option to log into your data set.

      Nice!

      --

      Life is the leading cause of death in America.
  2. Japanese have all the best toys by pubjames · · Score: 4, Insightful


    In my recent visit to Japan, I saw loads of technology that isn't in the US yet. Why is this? Yes, I know that it is stuff that is manufacturered by Japanese companies and so it is natural that it should appear there first, but Japan seems to be the best stuff several years before the US. Is the USA not a good market for tech gadgets?

    The miniature laptops I saw just rocked, and I can't believe they wouldn't sell in the US.

  3. Handhelds are dead! by midifarm · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I think the handwriting's been on the wall on this one for quite a while. It's become more mainstream to carry your laptop around and or your cell phone has the ability to store all your addresses and such. I've stopped using mine about a year ago in favour of my iPod. Granted I have to enter everything via my computer, but that doesn't bother me too much. I don't feel the need to carry around another $400 device just so I can have the luxury of scribbling in a name or two in my device on the fly. RIP PDA's, we loved when you were around!

    Peace

  4. Due to the rise of next generation mobile phones by Master+Of+Ninja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The next generation mobile phones are really what killed the PDA. If you have seen the high end phones some are PDA like (Sony Ericsson P900), and even the medium range now has very good organiser and synchronisation facilities. Combine that with Java expandability and there is not much need for PDAs for most people.

  5. Market Slump by Wog · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even the article suggests that the trimming of the PDA field was not unexpected, given the flat sales. And the reason is made clear by talking to PDA shoppers or even looking at this thread: Everyone is fine with what they've got.

    I'd be freaking lost without my PDA. I used a Palm 3 that I was given for a little while, then bought the Visor Deluxe when it came out, and used it until just recently. When it finally died (backlight failed) I dropped $90 on a Clie SJ-22. It's a great little PDA with a very bright white backlight that's on by default, 16meg memory, reads memory sticks, etc. I'll use it until it dies some horriffic death (hopefully in a few years) and get whatever is simple, cheap, highly-reviewed and well-supported.

    I guess the point I'm trying to make is that people use these things primarily for their original purpose: to *organise things.* The vast majority of PDA users might *like* color screens, mp3 playback, cameras, etc. But when they get to talking about it, you soon understand that they still mostly just want it to keep their lives in order. It's interesting that even many one-percenters on /. seem to be the same way. I love new tech just like anyone else, but it's a lot cheaper for me to play with the neat gizmos seperately, and not have my mishaps affect my PDA. Any other thoughts?