Anyone see this? Dell halts PDA development

kimh · 08-02-06, 11:48 AM

May just be a rumor...

Dell apparently halted R&D development of PDA products since the middle of 2005, when Dell's Taiwan Design Center (TDC) completed development of the PC vendor's last Axim-series device, which was manufactured by High Tech Computer (HTC), according to market sources.

According to the sources, Dell's TDC switched all PDA-related R&D resources to the notebook segment in the middle of 2005, following the company's plan of reducing the number of its R&D staff at its handheld device division at the end of 2004.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/08/02/dell_pda_development/

**Frenchy** · 08-02-06, 12:02 PM

That's not too good but was expected as nothing has been out since the X51v over a year ago.

Duke_Box · 08-02-06, 12:02 PM

No it's true.. as i posted it before on other threads.

08-02-06, 12:21 PM

Well maybe they make huge price custs so they can sell out there remaining inventory.;)

08-02-06, 12:39 PM

Yeah, I read this over on Geek a few minutes ago. I'm really not surprised...

AdamaDBrown · 08-02-06, 12:57 PM

If they moved PDA R&D to the laptop division, they didn't shut it down, did they?

And the X51v was only released about ten months ago, not over a year.

08-02-06, 01:25 PM

Looking at most of the PDAs on the market, they are all the same, with simple variations on design. It does not take a researcher to decide that a PDA should have WM5, 128MB of RAM, a square display, built-in Bluetooth and a long life battery. Sales departments pick features like these, engineers formalize the specs, if necessary and find ways to get it built. Companies do not need R&D for mundane tasks like this.

HTC already builds most PDAs and has a core of good engineers. Any company wanting to market their own device only has to provide specs to HTC and dicker over the cost and deadlines. I suspect that anyone wanting a Windows Mobile device only has to ask for one.

Now this does not mean that Dell can get by without R&D for advanced technologies, but it does mean that they can continue to market a line of PDAs for as long as they want and never spend a dollar on research.

Howard2k · 08-02-06, 01:48 PM

I'm going to sticky this in the hope that more people will read this before posting their own links to the story in their own threads :)

dennisma · 08-02-06, 02:04 PM

That is funny because I have abandon the Dell Axim as well.

I went to the "dark side" with an HP and am much happier.

dvmed · 08-02-06, 02:25 PM

Good thinking H2K, but I saw 4 threads already and counting.

Duke_Box · 08-02-06, 02:26 PM

HP will eventually stop there PDA development to. Small tablet pc's will be dell's next focus point.

rlarson_mn · 08-02-06, 03:12 PM

Yes it will soon be all cell phones will be small pims and if you want a pda that does more than a phone then you will have to get a tablet pc.

TripleTTTT · 08-02-06, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by rlarson_mn

Yes it will soon be all cell phones will be small pims and if you want a pda that does more than a phone then you will have to get a tablet pc.

PC Tablet sounds good.

drax5 · 08-02-06, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by TripleTTTT

PC Tablet sounds good.

If Dell does stop making the Axim, just curious to know what everyone will do for their next PDA? Who would you buy from? I personally want to keep my phone and PDA as seperate devices, but it looks like I'm losing out on that.

ttriple · 08-02-06, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by dennisma

That is funny because I have abandon the Dell Axim as well.

I went to the "dark side" with an HP and am much happier.

TRAITOR!!!! Let's get him!!!!!!!!!!!:realmad: :realmad: :realmad:

just kidding...i like HP stuff too...i just got a HP laptop and I like their design as well as sturdy built, unlike Dell's notebooks.