hi jan,
here is how i would respond to MOT or anyone else jumping into the PDA party....
""My theory is that the PDA [personal digital assistant] market of today is equivalent to the PC market of the early 1980s. I think there's almost limitless opportunities for anyone with a good, well thought out product."
This is in some ways an excellent point, in that the market for handheld
devices is certainly in a young, hyper-growth stage--much like the PC
industry in the 1980s. There is, however a darker side to the analogy,
which is that since strong demand attracts intense competition, profits
tend to get squeezed and some companies tend to fail in early-stage
industries. For example, who's ever heard of Eagle Computer,
Columbia Data Systems, or Corona? All three were some of the
earliest manufacturers of IBM clones, and all three have long since
faded into business history.
Sure, Compaq CPQ and Dell DELL have prospered where Eagle,
Columbia, and Corona failed, but there were a dozen Columbias for
every Compaq. Every emerging industry, from automobiles to
PCs, creates a ton of companies--only a few of which wind up
surviving. The bottom line is that it's pretty tough to know which
companies will be Eagles and which will be Dells this early in the
handheld game."
news.morningstar.com
:)
mark |
