NEC <6701.T> to launch 1st PDA in Japan this year
TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) - NEC Corp, Japan's biggest personal
computer maker, said on Monday it will launch its first personal
digital assistant (PDA) by the end of this year in Japan's
increasingly crowded market for the handheld devices.
The new PDA will use Microsoft Corp's <MSFT.O> Windows CE
operating system, instead of the more commonly used system
developed by global PDA market leader Palm Inc <PALM.O>.
"Considering its strengths in multimedia applications and
linking up with PCs, we opted for CE," Osamu Iseki, a senior NEC
manager for PDA product planning, told a news conference.
The device will also use Intel Corp's <INTC.O> StrongArm
processor, already used in Compaq Computer Corp's <CPQ.N> iPAQ,
and include slots for a Compact Flash Type II card, which can be
used for wireless communications as well as memory, and an SD
Memory Card slot.
A number of Japanese and foreign companies are jumping into
Japan's PDA market, with Toshiba Corp <6502.T> among those
expecting to offer new products this year.
But Iseki, like other industry executives, said PDAs in Japan
face particularly tough competition from highly popular
Internet-enabled cellphones.
NEC gave no price or sales targets for its PDA, but Katsuichi
Tomita, an NEC senior vice president, stressed the company's
intention to match its rivals in cost performance.
"We won't put out a product that's not profitable," he said.
He added NEC would especially target the commercial market,
including developing applications for business use.
NEC also unveiled a notebook computer for the Japanese market
that can read both the Magic Gate Memory Stick recording media
developed by Sony Corp <6758.T> and the SD Memory Cards developed
by rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd <6752.T>, Sandisk
Corp <SNDK.O> and other firms. |
