Ad has posted on his CE thread that Compaq is releasing a new $599 iPaq.
Seeminly like a mistake by Compaq for not coming down in the market segment instead of ever moving up the pricing chain, the real underline shows why CE is such a "bad" product that simply does not address the needs in the massive PDA market. This is almost an ironic statement to make, because Microsoft is known for making inferior products that suited market needs better. Somehow, CE is so ........... un-softie.
CE is better than Palm from almost every technical perspective. CE is better than Palm from a functional perspective. CE is better than Palm from a viewing perspective. But CE does not address the massive needs of the PDA market today. Nothing is more revealing than watching the iPaq line, which is the most successful CE product ever.
For Christ's sake, $599 is an insane price. While Palm is adding a $200 m105 to its most successful m100 product family, the CE camp has found it nearly impossible to move down the price chain to address the massive and explosive PDA market. Why? Why? Why? It's a shame that Compaq can't do it and it's a shame that the mass majority of PDA users can enjoy the superior CE products. Yet as a PALM shareholder, I am laughing out loud!
CE can't address this market, because it has the great functions that users don't care and Palms don't have. At least that users don't care to pay $200 to $400 more for. Such great funcations include MP3, Sreaming Video, a bloated OS, and huge applications. No CE makers can make a PDA with twice the memory and processing resources of a Palm. As a matter or fact, the difference is greater than 10x in most cases.
Why is Casio, Compaq, and HP still hanging with CE?
CE simply doesn't address the PDA market!
CE simply doesn't make any business sense!
I urge these companies to drop CE and join the Palm camp.
Khan, the new unofficially nominated Palm CCO. Chief Cheerleading Officer! |
