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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric L who wrote (34814)	11/15/2000 10:30:28 AM
From: Tom Chwojko-Frank	Respond to of 54805

Well, here's my view on the three (Palm, PocketPC, and Symbian): Palm has the apps and developer community, but not the big device manufacturers (Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola). The OS technically is OK, but is not easily malleable to these other markets. Symbian has the technology that the device makers want. It's really stable, small, fast, easy to develop for, and most importantly the user interface is designed to be changable, so the device makers can create their own look and feel. (From what I've heard, MS wanted to keep that control, which was unacceptable.) They are working hard to get a good developer community going. They also need to be careful of their consortium falling apart. If one of the members gets too powerful, others may defect in order to compete better. PocketPC has the interoperability with the existing pervasive technology (Windows/Office), but a pretty bad UI, and no support from wireless manufacturers. They do have support from Compaq and other hardware makers, though. Apps are relatively easy to port, but stability, speed, customization, and size are not inherently designed into the OS. Personally, I think MS just doesn't understand this market (yet). UI is everything. I looked at the Compaq device at the Intel booth, because I thought my company's technology was on it, and wanted to check. After a minute I realized I really didn't understand how to get around very easily, and set it down. Palm and Symbian devices, on the other hand, were incredibly intuitive, and had very little learning curve. All three companies have strengths which they are trying to leverage. As much as I like Symbian technically, I don't know that they will win out. On the other hand, my product thrives on chaos. So this uncertainty is great for business. As to GSM-centricity: that's the device makers, not Symbian. Symbian doesn't care, as long as the devices get built. Since Europe is GSM, and closer to ready for data in the here-and-now, they want GSM support. Personally, I use Palm and a Sanyo phone with web access (HDML through Sprint) now, but want a CDMA Quartz or Crystal handheld to replace my phone and PDA. I have no interest in PocketPC right now. As far as the Gorilla Game goes, I think we're in the bowling alley. I'd buy the basket (get Symbian through Psion) and see who wins. Tom CF