Giovanni,
I think it's too early to tell to be honest. Our research here in Japan is
showing that "Convenience" or the simple fact that the MobileNet is
attached to a phone is a very powerful and compelling value
proposition. There are a number of other drivers of consumer behavior that
we're finding, but the basic fact that the phone is the underlying device
is extremely important to many users. So because the mobile phone is now a
mandatory part of communication, using its data capabilities creates a very
strong position for Smartphones now and into the future.
However, with 802.11 (mostly g) and all the other competing broadband
wireless technologies that make 3G look incredibly slow, it's very possible
that the PDA or PDA/phone combinations that we're seeing from Palm and many
others will have long term viability as well. Especially in the US and EU
where the stripped down WAP or iMode Internet are still not commanding the
audience that the fixed line (or broadband) Internet are, these devices may
continue to be the method of choice for Internet access.
I think the interesting question to focus on is what is truly driving usage
of these devices, Communication or Data Access...or something else...
Philip
At 09:32 PM 4/21/2003 +0200, you wrote:
> > This is my thinking:
> >
> > Consumer PDAs (Like Palm's ZIRE) will be killed by advanced one-hand
> > operated smartphones (Like the 3650 and not the P800) with modular OSs
> > like those based on Symbian (Also Nokia Series 60).
> >
> > PDAs will remain a limited niche for business users and powerusers.
> >
> > Reasons:
> >
> > 1 - Smartphones do include most if all of the features of consumer PDAs
> > included advanced PIM, Caledars and e-mail support.
> > 2 - Carrying 2 things creates a lot of stress
> > 3 - One-hand operated devices are much better for day-to-day use and
> > for most of the applications...
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Giovanni
>
>
>
>
>
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Philip Sidel
Assistant Professor of Marketing
The International University of Japan
Graduate School of International Management
Phone: 81-(0)25-779-1400
Fax: 81-(0)25-779-4443
Email: psidel@iuj.ac.jp
Received on Tue Apr 22 10:08:01 2003