Legend Mobile Scraps Jordan Branded Handheld
Legend Mobile, formerly PTN Media, lost nearly $308,700 in the second quarter and has ended its agreement with basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Legend Mobile is the company known for marketing the Claudia Schiffer and Jordan branded Palm handhelds.
For the first six months of this year, Legend reported a net loss of $574,248 or 8 cents a share on revenue of $57,672 compared with a net loss of about $948,000 or 20 cents a share on revenue of $226,866 for the same year ago period. Legend said it entered a settlement agreement with Jordan on June 27 to stop using Jordan’s likeness on any products. As part of the agreement, Legend paid Jordan $468,750.
In January of 2001, Legend Mobile entered into a three-year, exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license agreement with Michael Jordan, the former NBA player, granting them the right to use Jordan's name, likeness, image, and endorsement in connection with the advertisement, promotion, and sale of Jordan branded handheld computers using the Palm OS.
Legend Mobile had previously promoted the Claudia Schiffer Palm Vx. The Claudia Edition featured a aqua colored brushed aluminum standard Palm Vx shell designed to make the handheld more stylish and appealing to women. Both the Claudia and Jordan handhelds featured personally picked custom software. The Jordan Palm m100 cames with a black faceplate and flip cover with the Jordan name in silver on the front. The Jordan Palm m500 (originally sold for $425) and had the Jordan logo on the top left-hand corner.
Lackluster sales caused Legend to scrap the Jordan handhelds and seek other forms of revenue. Currently the company promotes celebritity editions of mobile phones and accessories. They have deals with Playboy, pop singer Christina Aguilera, rapper Nelly and several NASCAR drivers.
Thanks to PalmLoyal for the Tip.
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Never Saw One for Sale
RE: HAHAHAHA
As Charles Dickens would say..."It was the best of times...it was the worst of times".
"it's better to be a pirate than join the navy." - Steve Jobs
RE: HAHAHAHA
Yeah, the IBM Workpad was a complete flop too (not)...
Actually, it was popular with corporate types that trusted the IBM name, and liked the sexy black anodised aluminium cases.
~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~
RE: HAHAHAHA
Do you have any market data to back that up? IBM has never gained enough volume sales to even appear on PDA pie chart. If that's not a flop, it's pretty darn close. Which is understandable since IBM never really did much to market their product.
"it's better to be a pirate than join the navy." - Steve Jobs
RE: HAHAHAHA
Very true ... in much the same way that Handera fails to appears on PDA pie charts. The C3 was sold via partner channels, and not via the sales channels that Gartner and the hoard of other "segment analyst" companies use for sales.
Rebranding was in general a failed experiment that we all laughed at when it was released, in much the same way as the "patriot colors" that Palm released awhile back.
However, the IBM deal was a little unique in as much as it included syncing to Lotus Notes and tighter integration via software to IBM owned platforms. As such it enjoyed limited success and was far from a failure.
IIRC I never saw actual sales figures for the C3. The only sales data I ever saw had the IBM C3 sales rolled into the Palm Vx sales under the justification that they were the same device. I'll try to google the original data up - but it has been awhile since I needed to track that type of info.
~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~
RE: HAHAHAHA
Oh that Jordan
How did they ever get funding in the first place?
Here's the pitch to potential investors:
"Hey, we're going to Jordan brand some handheld devices that are loved by armies of geeks and, the simple act of placing Jordan's name on the flipcover will attract armies of non-geeks who want to be cool. Trust me, it will work, we've got the market research to back this up."
*Sound of wallets opening up*
Got me.
Don't be so quick to laugh
RE: Don't be so quick to laugh
I bought a Schiffer Palm Vx
But the software was a big joke. It was a waste of RAM. The branded Palm-device thing is dumb. The NFL licensing with Motorola is at least mildly successful, but not in the major markets...
These licensing efforts are a big failure.
This is good news
The idea of paying a single penny more for a device just for the fact that a vacuum-brained barbie doll thinks it looks cute in blue is grotesque. If that is all CS can think of to promote women in technology, she'd better retire to her home in Mallorca and party as she knows best.
As for Michael Jordan, whoever finds himself more like a real man because his Palm (or his eau de toilette, or his toilet paper, for as much as I care) sports this gentleman's name, he better get some Viagra and get down to reality.
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HAHAHAHA
Add to the fact that this isnt colour...great stuff glad to see this fail