TMG-L Archives

Archiver > TMG > 2005-12 > 1133438002


From: Ron Bernier <>
Subject: RE: [TMG] TMGv6.X & hand held mini PC devises
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 06:53:22 -0500
In-Reply-To: <200512010514.jB15E5HM008822@mail.rootsweb.com>


Kevin,

Thank you for a very informative explanation. Very much appreciated.

Ron Bernier
Woonsocket, RI


> Peggy,
>
> PocketPC sales passed Palm some time ago in the America's (3rd or
> 4th quarter 2004 I believe) That's been the case in the European
> market for a lot longer. (I don't think Palm ever got much of a
> foothold over there)I've stopped watching the percentages after
> PocketPC passed Palm but last I remember Palm was about 30% of the
> market. (That's down from about 80% 4-5 years ago) In my opinion
> (and we all have them), if they didn't have such good success with
> their Treo (Phone/PDA), they would have been out of business by
> now. Incidentally, Palm did announce that they were coming out
> with a Windows Mobile version of their Treo, 1st Quarter 2006 I
> believe. (Lot's of Palm fanatics screaming over that one!)
>
> One indication that they are in a world of hurt is the new $99
> Palm. It is a very basic unit BUT, even at that, they are
> certainly making no money on it. (it has to be a very slim profit
> margin) You can believe that if they didn't need to do something
> about their market share, they wouldn't be offering that model,
> there's just no money to be made. (Kind of like the joke about
> selling below cost but making it up in volume!)
>
> Incidentally, and I think most consumers don't realize this, Palm
> actually split into two companys a year or two back. There's the
> "PalmOne" company which is hardware and the "PalmSource" company
> which is software. (The operating system) They are two totally
> independent companies. PalmOne recently purchased the name "Palm"
> back from PalmSource which was in the nick of time... PalmSource
> was purchased by a company called "Access". (Which is a web browser
> company I believe) It's interesting to note that the Palm
> Operating system is now totally out of Palm's control now. (which
> technically was true the moment the company split)
>
> There's NO lack of software for PocketPC's... Thousands of programs
> out there, just go look on Handango or PocketGear to get an idea.
> Just about anything you could want for either platform should be
> available.
>
> Kevin
>
> (For full disclosure, I am the developer of Pocket Genealogist for
> the PocketPC. When I first wrote Pocket Genealogist in 1999/2000,
> I saw where things were going (it's hard to beat Microsoft) and
> decided to go the PocketPC route instead of Palm)

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