Another one out of business - what I'm missing...

[Guest]

[me2k]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/14/raon-digital-maker-of-monstrosities-meets-its-maker/

[statsja]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/14/raon-digital-maker-of-monstrosities-meets-its-maker/

I'm afraid that UMPC's are becoming a niche market. They are just not appealing to the masses partly due the price, when you can now get a netbook in the UK for £150. I also just read that because of the low price and improved hardware (netbooks) they are expected to surpass 32 million in sales this year.... How can any UMPC survive or beat that. I did have a OQO 01+ which I have now sold. I now have a Wibrain B1 & also an ACER aspire one 8.9 inch netbook which was a lot cheaper than my Wibrain. The Wibrain is for the wow factor and the netbook is for working...

[wogaut]

I'm afraid that UMPC's are becoming a niche market.

UMPC's ARE a niche market.

W.

[tam23]

raon had poor customer support and the notes shortcomings have led to raons eventual downfall,i have both an oqo e2 and an original everun and both are great devices,my note is still with raon awaiting repair so i can kiss that goodbye,its still a shame and you guys are right with better spec net/notebooks coming out every weeks sub £200 umpcs are going to die all over the shop unless they are backed by huge companies (samsung,sony etc).i like my pocketable device and i will always be that way.

[2disbetter]

I got to weigh in on this... I don't feel that the UMPC's are all dying off because of Netbooks. I think they are because of marketing, and expectations.

For example, MOST of the people on this forum would buy a more expensive smaller UMPC over a cheaper netbook. This is the way it is. I value the size and so I pay for it.

These manufacturers are just catering to the wrong market. They shouldn't be expecting millions in sales, closer to 500k-1mil annually. How this isn't enough for someone keeping things in perspective to survive and thrive bewilders me.

2d

[tam23]

i agree on that point,i will always pay extra for a umpc because that is my CHOICE,support and niche marketing are destroying all these companies,only so many people can keep them afloat,the masses dont care about desktop functions in your pocket,just comes down to the root of all evil.

[me2k]

I got to weigh in on this... I don't feel that the UMPC's are all dying off because of Netbooks. I think they are because of marketing, and expectations.

For example, MOST of the people on this forum would buy a more expensive smaller UMPC over a cheaper netbook. This is the way it is. I value the size and so I pay for it.

These manufacturers are just catering to the wrong market. They shouldn't be expecting millions in sales, closer to 500k-1mil annually. How this isn't enough for someone keeping things in perspective to survive and thrive bewilders me.

2d

Well said, bewilders me too. A problem may be that most people, and many of them having a real use case for, simply need some more years to realize what these devices are/can be good for. Part of the marketing job, isn't it?-). So it's being to early.
I just hope, that it doesn't end up the big ones agreeing it's more/enough profitable selling netbooks, mids and phones and providing fee and web based applications and there's no need for more.
Quite optimistic though...

me2k

[Bungee]

Face it fellas, we are a rare lot here, putting up with Windows on a tiny device which it was never really designed for. If you need "years to realize what these devices are/can be good for", no amount of marketing is going to be sustainable. Remember Origami? Me neither.

[Dave P]

Face it fellas, we are a rare lot here

I think the word you're looking for is masochist.

I've always loved the bleeding edge. Before my OQO I had a full sized Motion Computing slate back when MS was touting Tablet XP as the next big thing. Motion has survived by going to vertical markets like health care (they produce a slate that can be disinfected with common hospital disinfectants) and blue collar job site computing.

UMPCs have suffered through a lack of focus. No one asked what group could be convinced that they should pay extra for Windows in their pocket. No one asked what capabilities a UMPC could provide that made it worth the extra cost. I find it significant that the most successful marketing of the 01 was by a third party who turned it into a professional camera back.

To my mind, the OQO should have focused more on the executive. I would have paid for software to add instant on email capabilities (to reproduce the Blackberry in his pocket) and marketed the ability to access corporate apps and pull up documents in the real version of MS Office and Acrobat. I would have spent my ad budget in Skymall and Forbes. I would have tried to get it reviewed in publications like the Robb Report.

Oh well. I'm back to looking for the next bleeding edge while hoping that my OQO doesn't suffer a fatal hemorrhage in the meantime.