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The Clie is dead, Could it take PalmSource with it?
June 11, 2004
Sony announced this week that it will stop selling new versions of the Clie PDA outside of its Japanese home market, where it has over 50% market share. This spells further trouble for PalmSource, from whom Sony licenses the PalmOS operating system for the devices, and in whom Sony has a 10% stake that it purchased a few years ago. PalmSource seems to be getting battered from all sides these days. Both Microsoft (with Windows Mobile) and IBM (with Linux on Zaurus) is putting a severe hurt on it in the mobile enterprise arena. Meanwhile, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are enticing traditional "professional" PDA users to their Symbian based SmartPhones. And phones in general are betting better at basic calendar, contacts, and "to do" functionality that used to be the PalmOS sweet spot.
Indeed, unless something dramatic happens for PalmSource in the next year or so, it's hard to see where the growth is going to be for the company.
As for the Clie's - they were interesting PDAs, and we had a soft spot for them. Sony's focus was always on the multimedia and gaming potential of the handhelds, which is why they were the first to ship with stereo headphones and built-in MP3 software, and the first with integrated cameras for both still and video imaging. We used them for demo'ing our Java/Bluetooth software, as they were always the coolest looking PDA around, obviously benefitting from Sony's consumer styling pedigree. Their wireless support for Bluetooth and 802.11 was also excellent.
However, outside their home market, their sales were disappointing, and indeed, sales of all PalmOS PDAs continue to struggle.
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