Windows Phone Thoughts: The PDA Vendor's Biggest Enemy: Disinterest In Upgrades

This is an interesting article: it specifically cites Palm and the difficulty the company has had in motivating people to buy upgrades. Of course, the data is skewed because of the fact that, until very recently, Palm devices offered little new, but the general problems confront all manufacturers.

"...many customers are so happy with their PDAs that the industry can't get them to upgrade -- and that sent PDA sales tumbling last year. Analysts say customer upgrades are essential for rejuvenating PDA sales because there don't seem to be many potential new PDA customers except at the low end of the market, where devices cost less than $100."

One argument I've heard in response to this is that cell phones are poised to close the gap and take over the majority of the organizer market. But are consumers upgrading those, either? Both markets should be busily working developing new killer apps -- and, indeed, some of them are getting close with things like integrated Wi-Fi for hotspots -- but only time will tell if this will click with more than "us gadgeteers".