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Sony Exits US Handheld Market
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."
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Not enough clientele, I suppose?
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
So long Sony, I won't miss the Clie because of what they did to me. I was happy to pay nearly $500 for a Clie NR70V, but when Sony lied to me and told me that one day I would be able to use a 1 gig memory stick with it, they lost me as a customer. I not only quit buying Sony PDAs, I didn't buy a Sony camera, opting for a Minolta with a standard SD card slot. Sony charged premium prices for some very nice models and they were making money on them until the memory stick debacle coupled with their crippled CF slot. I will be happy buying elsewhere from a company that keeps its promises to its customers. So don't let the Memory Stick hit you on the backside when you leave Sony!
This is the second "successful" handheld device I have seen cancelled recently -- I develop for handhelds, and we can't get the ones we've been getting (Thera) anymore. It should be no surprise that some shakedown of the myriad of devices out there would come to pass, but it does surprise me to see a company as large as Sony stop making anything.
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They mentioned several times that they want the PSP to be a multifunction device with PDA abilities, and a whole host of other abilities (MP3, Movies, GPS, etc) other than just being a dedicated game machine.
sony just didn't see the big picture, eventually the only PC people will have is a hand-held one, they could've made a killing if they just added a tv-out to their clie models, along with the ability to plug into regular size keyboards/mice, this way for the casual user, one who only reads emails, and checks news online, does reports in word, they could've provided a low-cost desktop alternative. b
For The Best Jazz/Hip-hop fusion > COlD DUCK
I chose my T665C over Palm branded hardware for a reason: So much more for the cash.
- Brilliant Color Screen
- MP3 Audio capabilities (via separate chip, which saves lots of power)
- Sound
- Small Size, light
- Great construction (alloy back)
- Pretty good package of software around it.
I've been very happy with it.
And shockingly, the nearest Palm equivilant didn't have anywhere near those specs. For more money, less of a product.
I'll miss the sony's in the market. Though I think Palm OS has caught up a bit.
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.
Peace
I recently ditched my Palm IIIxe for a Sony Ericsson T616. It isn't technically a "smartphone", but it still has a calendar, to do list, phone book (of course). And it syncs perfectly with iSync over bluetooth.
If you want to see the real future of Sony PDAs, look here.
So, what is my SonyEricsson P900, chopped liver? Sure it's not a dedicated handheld, but I didn't want one. It does IR, Bluetooth, USB, Calendar, doesn't run Windows, etc.
Exiting the market, my ass! They're just going to focus on PDA/Phone unified devices.
-l
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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.
Sony takes this kitchen sink approach to their portables, which is why I think the first wave of iPod competitors will fail. They jammed every conceivable feature into their handhelds, completely forgetting that the appeal of PalmOS was to "keep it simple." Memory stick, camera, bluetooth, wifi, MP3 player, etc. They're expensive too, compared to other PalmOS devices.
The iPod competitor will fail if they release it in the US. It's too big, it'll cost too much, and basically it has too many features and buttons for the US market.
From Palminfocenter's market share list
Worldwide Handheld Marketshare 2003
1. palmOne 40%
2. HP 22%
3. Sony 14%
4. Dell 6%
5. Toshiba 3%
6. All Others 15%
Best Selling SKUs (Oct - Dec 2003 US Retail)
Rank Model % of Total
1. palmOne Tungsten E 19%
2. Sony Clie SJ22 13%
3. palmOne Zire 21 10%
4. palmOne Zire 71 7%
5. HP iPaq 1945 (PPC) 6%
6. palmOne Zire 6%
7. Sony Clie TJ25 6%
8. palmOne Tungsten T3 4%
9. HP iPaq 2215 (PPC) 4%
10. palmOne Zire 21 Limited Ed Bundle 3%
It's not likely they were having Problems selling them, they were the number 2 PalmOS Based PDA seller, and The Number 3 Overall. They also had the number 2 and 7 best selling PDA.
Maybe they were expecting to sell more than this, or maybe most of those sales are outside the US.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
I use a Pocket PC (been using different ones for the past few years) but have always been impressed by Sony's innovations. If nothing else, they've provided solid competition for Microsoft. Now, it's essentially MS and a very dwindling Palm leading the PDA charge. So much for competition.
I bet the guy I rode the elevator up with this morning who was reading his new Clie instruction manual would've liked to know that yesterday.
That said, they weren't always the easiest company to work with. Often, the new models would come out so fast that we couldn't keep track of them, and a customer tech support email would be our first indication that something new was available. They had a tendency to keep certain APIs (like their camera API) private, and even their public APIs might be released to developers months after devices had shipped. I don't think a simulator for the TH55 was ever released.
But despite the problems, I'm sorry to see them go. Sony injected an energy into the Palm handheld market that I don't think can be matched by the other manufacturers.
--Stuart
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.
/. 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?
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
If you convert the price in Yen to USD, many of these products would not sell in the US.
Japanese people are willing to pay a premium for small/lightweight products. Americans are not as willing. Throughout all of Asia/Pacific, people use a combination of mass transit and walking. When I visited Hong Kong, my colleagues were astounded at the 40lb. bag I carried -- a big IBM Thinkpad and every accessory that I might possibly need. Imagine a computer room in a bag. It was somewhat inconvenient to take this heavy computer bag in and out of cabs and the subway, but I did it. Months later, the same people visited me in the US. I said, "Now I can show you why my computer bag is not so crazy." We walked out of my office, down a flight of stairs, and 50 feet to my car, where I popped the trunk and dropped the bag right in. Size and weight of the computer are meaningless because I seldom carry it for more than 2 minutes at a time.
I won't attempt to speak for everyone, but I want gizmos with full features, durability, and low price. Size and weight are secondary. If I lived in Asia, my priorities would be different.
I saw this story on Brighthand this morning and was about to submit it to slashdot, but I decided to check my facts first.
BargainPDA says "Sony has informed us that they will not release any new Clie PDAs this year in the US."
They had a conference call with Sony last week, and Sony made is abundantly clear that this is just a regrouping, they will NOT be exiting the market.
You can probably expect for Sony's next US model to be released with a bang. 'After an x-month hiatus, Sony has decided to revolutionize the PDA landscape again!' or something.
But again! SONY IS NOT EXITING THE MARKET! NOTHING TO SEE HERE! MOVE ALONG!
If this doesn't get me some karma, nothing will :-\