Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Why the Consumer Market Doesn't Matter
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 04:49 PM
http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/column020225.htm
I've long admired Jeff Kirvin's writing, and his Feb 25th column is a must-read. I'm sure many of you will disagree with the premise, and at one point I did too, but I reluctantly came to understand the truth last year. More on that in another upcoming post - read Jeff's article and tell me what YOU think.
"In a ZDnet AnchorDesk article recently, the author explained how he thought Microsoft could beat Palm with the Pocket PC. Most of his strategy seemed to hinge on making the Pocket PC more accessible to consumers: making it cheaper, more customizable, etc. Basically, he seemed to think that the Pocket PC as it stands now is just too stodgy and expensive to catch on. He just doesn't get it.
Whenever I see people -- well, not bashing, really, but disapproving of -- the Pocket PC, the "it's too expensive/big/stodgy for the consumer market" complaint is always high on the list. I don't think these people get that Microsoft isn't worried about the consumer market just yet, and the only reason you can buy Pocket PCs retail at all right now is to generate "mind share" and general awareness of the platform. It's a lot more profitable to sell 5,000 Pocket PCs on one order than to try to sell to -- and later support -- 5,000 individual consumers. While I think Microsoft will go after this market eventually, it's too soon now.
The important thing is to get palmtops taken seriously as business tools. A leopard skin faceplate is not going to do that. What will do that is a device powerful enough to handle the bulk of what a lot of corporations buy notebooks for now, at a fraction of the price, weight and bulk. Pocket PCs can do that. Palms can too, but as I've mentioned before, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Palms in the enterprise can be higher because of all the extra software that must be added to them, and the support costs of getting all that software to work together."
I've long admired Jeff Kirvin's writing, and his Feb 25th column is a must-read. I'm sure many of you will disagree with the premise, and at one point I did too, but I reluctantly came to understand the truth last year. More on that in another upcoming post - read Jeff's article and tell me what YOU think.
"In a ZDnet AnchorDesk article recently, the author explained how he thought Microsoft could beat Palm with the Pocket PC. Most of his strategy seemed to hinge on making the Pocket PC more accessible to consumers: making it cheaper, more customizable, etc. Basically, he seemed to think that the Pocket PC as it stands now is just too stodgy and expensive to catch on. He just doesn't get it.
Whenever I see people -- well, not bashing, really, but disapproving of -- the Pocket PC, the "it's too expensive/big/stodgy for the consumer market" complaint is always high on the list. I don't think these people get that Microsoft isn't worried about the consumer market just yet, and the only reason you can buy Pocket PCs retail at all right now is to generate "mind share" and general awareness of the platform. It's a lot more profitable to sell 5,000 Pocket PCs on one order than to try to sell to -- and later support -- 5,000 individual consumers. While I think Microsoft will go after this market eventually, it's too soon now.
The important thing is to get palmtops taken seriously as business tools. A leopard skin faceplate is not going to do that. What will do that is a device powerful enough to handle the bulk of what a lot of corporations buy notebooks for now, at a fraction of the price, weight and bulk. Pocket PCs can do that. Palms can too, but as I've mentioned before, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Palms in the enterprise can be higher because of all the extra software that must be added to them, and the support costs of getting all that software to work together."
