Mr. Mark,
This is a very good article. Yes, Microsoft has its advantages in the corporate world with its Exchange Server and SQL Server, but I don't see them as reasons to keep Palm out of the corporate market. In fact, the fortune 1000 companies are a lot more likely to use Oracle database with applications by SAP, Siebel, and Oracle. These are the guys that Palm should work with.
This article also confirms the point that we were making on the other thread that a hot iPaq does not mean HP and Casio are selling that well.
Khan
-------------------------------Here we go again, another WinCE over Palm predictions-----
Posted at 6:00 p.m. PST Monday, Dec. 11, 2000
Palm to give a glimpse of future
offerings
SAN JOSE (AP) -- Palm Inc., hoping to retain its dominant
position in the fast-growing market of handheld personal digital
assistants, is promoting its wireless strategy and new applications
in store for next year at its annual developers conference.
The Santa Clara-based company and its operating system
licensees, such as rival Handspring, command nearly 75 percent of the electronic organizer
market, according to International Data Corp. And retailers say Palm and Palm OS devices are in
high demand this holiday season.
But competitors -- most notably, Microsoft's PocketPC -- are moving in.
``Palm will have to give a view of their future and that they'll once again be trendy,'' said Rob
Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group. ``They have a large number of suppliers and
they'll have to keep them from migrating to Microsoft.''
In fact, the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. will hold a separate invitation-only dinner
Tuesday for developers who will be in Santa Clara attending this week's three-day PalmSource
2000 conference.
``Palm certainly has a lot of users, and there are applications that their users can't live without.
We're interested in talking to those people who are building those applications,'' said Ed
Suwanjindar, product manager for the mobile devices division at Microsoft.
According to IDC, Palm handhelds, and others using its operating system, are estimated to
surpass 4.4 million units in 2000, carrying 74 percent of the worldwide market. The Windows CE
operating system by Microsoft will reach 1 million units, or 18 percent of the market.
IDC projects, however, that Palm's operating system dominance will diminish to 51 percent by
the end of 2004, while Microsoft's operating platform will grow to 39 percent of the handheld
market.
Palm officials appear unfazed by the competition.
``It's nice that folks are acknowledging us as the leader in handhelds,'' Michael Mace, Palm's
chief competitive officer, said of Microsoft's efforts to get developers to build applications for
the PocketPC platform.
Mace also downplayed the forecasts of a diminished market share.
``In the last three years, third-party analysts have said that Palm was about to decline in the next
year,'' Mace said. ``Instead, Palm has grown tremendously and we think that's going to continue
next year.''
Palm has made strides this year to stay competitive. It expanded its wireless Internet download
options and announced plans to introduce wireless e-mail next year. At this week's conference,
Palm is expected to give a demonstration of its next generation of handhelds that will include
Bluetooth's short-range radio technology.
Palm also plans next year to introduce color screen options -- in an apparent effort to compete
against Handspring's color cases and screens. It will show off its soon-to-be released Palm Vx
Claudia Schiffer Edition, which sports a blue brushed-metal case instead of the silver ones now
offered.
Palm early next year also will introduce expansion slot options, similar to those offered now by
Handspring.
And in a move some analysts say is crucial for Palm and its partners to keep up with its
competitors, Motorola Inc. announced Monday that it will start incorporating ARM technology --
a leading wireless architectural standard -- in its chips for smart handheld devices next year.
Motorola currently supplies the microprocessors used in Palm Pilots and Handspring Visors.
The ARM architecture in the chips would allow the personal digital assistants to better handle
more advanced and complicated features, such as wireless data and video.
``They're expanding their technology base because everything is going multimedia,'' said Tim
Scannell, an industry analyst with Mobile Insights. ``It's something they had to do. You need that
robust microprocessor platform to handle that new wave of wireless applications.'' |
