No, the Sky Isn't Falling

MobileRead Networks - palmOne: No more high-end PDAs in future: "The Independent was able to chat with palmOne chief Ed Colligan, uncovering some more interesting information on what we might expect from palmOne in future.

Read closely the three following quotes from the article (I marked the important parts in bold):

These changes [enhancements of the Treo 650], Mr Colligan believes, will help PalmOne to compete with manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Nokia, as well as persuading existing Palm users to switch to a smart phone.

'The PDA market has been flat to declining,' he says. 'But I look at the mobile computing and communications business and see that growing rapidly. We are cannibalising ourselves. If PDA sales are shrinking, it is because we have a smart phone business.'

[T]he low-end market [of PDAs] is one where Mr Colligan believes he can make money - and where the competition struggle.

Mark my words: There won't be any high-end PDA from palmOne anymore. Not today. And not in a year. Colligan CLEARLY says so himself. He says he wants his (btw shrinking) customer base turn towards smartphones. He says there cannot be place for both, PDAs and smartphones, and without doubt he is in favor of smartphones. And lastly, to avoid spreading rumors that palmOne is completely abandoning the PDA market he mentions that the low-end sector is still of his interest.

So only a shift in strategy?

I suspect there is more what Colligan is not telling us. Notice that palmOne has had some serious distribution problems. In Europe, you'll hardly find anyone on the streets with a Treo in his hand. Colligan says there was a problem of over-supply; but he fails to explain why his only European partner is UK Orange so far, and what he could do to win other important alliances with European phone network companies. This just doesn't sound right. And if palmOne is really focusing on, I quote, 'mobile computing and communications', why then did they decide to release a Tungsten T5 without WiFi?"

Because WiFi does not a high end handheld make. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bluetooth and a 3G cellphone make WiFi obsolete. Notice that all of the PalmOne top-end devices (Treo 650, Tungstens T3 and T5, Zire 72) have Bluetooth. I think PalmOne realizes, moreso than the general public, that no one solution is perfect for everyone. I have absolutely no interest in buying a smartphone. I've owned two, and convergence requires too many compromises. In fact, even though I've got 1.3GB in my Tapwave Zodiac, most of that music for while I write, I'm seriously considering ditching the music, loading up my 1GB card with as many ebooks as I can, and buying an iPod for music and Audible. That means I'll have four devices to carry (Zod, keyboard, phone and iPod), five if I continue to carry my headphones in a retracting case. But each device will do what it does nearly perfectly, no compromises.

In a sense though, Morpheus is right. PalmOne will not be releasing a "technology demo" high-end handheld a la the HP hx4700. They're more focused on providing solutions, not gadgets.