Ppc 2004? - Page 3

ajabbari · 12-07-03, 06:00 AM

Well selling more Axim's would make more money yes, but in the case of the X5 that argument may be moot since I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by another model by the time WM2004 comes out. If that were to be the case then Dell wouldn't really have any prospects of making money from X5 unit sales but offering upgrades would allow them to squeeze out a bit of profit from the large existing X5 user base.

Having a WM2004 upgrade available would also make a good impression on anyone looking to buy a Dell PPC at that time (so in a way it could generate more PPC sales, even if they are no longer X5s). There are few handheld manufacturers out there that would bother offering multiple upgrades on a device that sold at the X5's price point.

12-07-03, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ajabbari
Well selling more Axim's would make more money yes, but in the case of the X5 that argument may be moot since I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by another model by the time WM2004 comes out.

Those are my thoughts too. In my opinion, there's a slim to none chance of a 2004 upgrade for the X5. Upgrades don't help Dell gain market share and only maintain the installed base. The 2003 upgrade is offered because Dell doesn't have another product as expandable as the X5 at the moment. Other companies such as HP are offering upgrades because they're selling to commercial users who don't want to buy new hardware. The Axim on the other hand, probably doesn't have too many commercial users. You can tell because there's poor image stability with the Axim (e.g. sync connector) - a main selling point for big companies. When 2004 comes out, Dell is probably going to intro a new PDA since one of the key features of the OS is VGA. Chances are, they would promote new hardware rather than an upgrade since there aren't that many commercial users to satisfy.

JaxDomino · 12-08-03, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JPack
Those are my thoughts too. In my opinion, there's a slim to none chance of a 2004 upgrade for the X5. Upgrades don't help Dell gain market share and only maintain the installed base. The 2003 upgrade is offered because Dell doesn't have another product as expandable as the X5 at the moment. Other companies such as HP are offering upgrades because they're selling to commercial users who don't want to buy new hardware. The Axim on the other hand, probably doesn't have too many commercial users. You can tell because there's poor image stability with the Axim (e.g. sync connector) - a main selling point for big companies. When 2004 comes out, Dell is probably going to intro a new PDA since one of the key features of the OS is VGA. Chances are, they would promote new hardware rather than an upgrade since there aren't that many commercial users to satisfy.

I have to say you TOTALLY missed the boat on this one. ajabbari never said he didn't think Dell wouldn't offer an upgrade, they actually said it WOULD make more sense fro Dell to offer an upgrade. Also, Dell is sure to have sold more X5's to corporate users than home users. Dell's biggest drive is corporate. Also, I doubt companies look at a PPC and decide not to buy it because their users can't watch a movie with out jitters. Come on. I don't mean to come down hard on you, but what you said just made no sense.

12-09-03, 07:44 PM

No... I'm using the phrase "image stability" the way IT managers use it.

Google for it. It's the hardware and software consistency throughout the product line. IBM for example, promotes image stability with their commercial line of desktops and notebooks. They'll guarantee no change in the hardware and software image so that companies can standardize. If there's a new chipset stepping, they'll keep using the old one in case there are incompatibilities. They won't change to another vendor for the NIC. Et cetera et cetera.

What I'm trying to say is that Dell doesn't yet have a track record for their line of PDAs. The latest X3 has an entirely different set of accessories and sync connector compared to the X5 (lack of image stability). As an IT manager, if I had invested in the X5, all the accessories would have been incompatible. If I had bought for instance, the iPaq, my investment would be preserved since all the accessories including keyboards, expansion packs, batteries, et cetera are compatible with the h3600 up to the h5500 series. All this makes it unlikely that many companies would have invested in the Axim.

ajabbari · 12-10-03, 12:46 AM

I would have to agree with JaxDomino here, I do think that the X5 does have a corporate presence. Granted it may not be as extensive as the iPaqs, but I remeber reading a number of posts from people even on these boards getting large numbers of Axims for their departments. Yes, the iPaq's "Image stability" is a huge asset, but the iPaq is a bit of a freak occurence in that Compaq maintained its profile and connector compatibility for so long (a rarity in the tech industry). Looking at most other PPCs this type of long term hardware compatibility is not really present, and I don't think that it is expected or required by corporations (though it may be prefered). If the PPC is cheap enough, I'm sure most corporations would ignore the lack of "image stability" if only because they'd be able to buy two Axim's for the price of one iPaq.

By the way I think that making ROM and OS upgrades available could be construed as a sign of "image stability" in itself since it demonstrates Dell's long term commitment to supporting the Axim.

JaxDomino · 12-14-03, 11:15 PM

Thanks ajabbari. JPack, I was an IT Manager. No one cares about Image Stablity for PPC's. Heck if that's the case, Palm wouldn't have had a strangle hold on the corporate market for so long. Dell is a company that knows all too well about saving companies money through "Image Stability". Case in point is the C Series of Latitude laptops. You can buy an AC adapter for your C600 and it works for your C810, so does the docking station and port replicator. What you are seeing is that a $129 adapater that works on a $1500 laptop AND a $3000 laptop. That is what IT Managers look at. I worked for Verizon until 11/22/03, (I took the "package"), and Axim X5's are a standard item there. So this is a 125,000+ user base and if Dell isn't worried about taking care of them, you better go back and think on it a little more.