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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Demosthenes who wrote (37103)	9/1/2000 10:29:22 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Handheld makers already foresee Christmas shortage By Bloomberg News August 31, 2000, 4:40 p.m. PT Palm, Handspring, Sony and other makers of handheld computers will have trouble filling orders this holiday season because of the ongoing parts shortage, according to executives and analysts. "We're in backlog on literally every single product in the line," Palm chief competitive officer Michael Mace said. "Today the thing holding us back is our ability to procure parts. That is by far the biggest barrier to further growth by Palm." Supplies are lagging in part because of a scarcity of components such as liquid crystal displays, color screens and flash-memory chips. Palm and the other handheld computer makers use many of the same components as cell phone makers and game console makers. More people are buying such devices and can sometimes afford to upgrade to newer products each year as prices drop, further straining supplies, said Rob Enderle, an analyst with technology market researcher Giga Information Group. Because electronic organizers have become more popular than expected, the shortages could persist through 2001 and threaten the widespread acceptance of the devices. "It can turn people off," Enderle said. "They get tired of waiting and never come back." Lack of color screens has led Sony to plan on a monochrome display for its new device, the Clie, when it hits the U.S. market in mid-September. Sony still plans to use a color screen for the Japanese market. "There's definitely an industrywide shortage of supplies," Sony spokesman David Yang said. For Palm, strong demand has reduced stocks of new products, including the m100, a $149 device targeted at computer novices. And shortages of Compaq Computer's iPaq handheld has spurred some people to buy the devices above the retail price through Internet auctions.