Handspring Restructures, Changes Marketing Focus
Early this year, Handspring's CEO Donna Dubinsky said her company would be switching its primary focus from making Visor handhelds to making Treo smartphones. It took a big step in this direction this week, changing the main focus of its marketing efforts from selling its products in retail stores to selling them through wireless carriers. This process has already begun with the Treo 300. Sprint is in charge of marketing this new CDMA smartphone, not Handspring. The company plans will make similar deals in the future with other wireless carriers.
According to a company spokesperson, this will require fewer employees so Handspring has laid off about 80 people from its worldwide workforce, almost all of them from its marketing department. Two executives were also let go: the VP of corporate marketing, Karen Sipprell, and chief information officer, Glenn Noga. This leaves the company with 300 employees.
This doesn't mean Handspring will stop selling both Visor handhelds and Treo smartphones in retail stores, simply that this will no longer be its primary marketing focus.
Thanks to the numerous people who sent tips on this. -Ed
Related Information:
- PIC: Handspring to Eventually Stop Making the Visor (January 15, 2002)
- PIC: HandSpring Forum
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Missing the Point
Instead of Handspring marketing its products, the wireless carriers will. The carriers have a lot more money and a lot more experience marketing phones. I think this is already paying off. If you have been paying attention, you should have noticed the Treo 300 in some Sprint TV ads. Running TV advertising is something I don't think Handspring has ever been able to afford.
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News Editor
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
As a communicator company, they can still write some of the rules and come out with innovative handsets and platforms. The margins are also going to be better because there will be corporate customers looking to use innovative wireless solutions. Plus having partners like Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Cingular will help in the long run to lower or remove some costs like distribution and marketing. Overall, this is not a bad idea so long as they can come out with a successor to the current Treo line which is now almost a year old.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
I've been reading about Handspring's demise for a year on this forum, and yet, there they are...alive and kicking. I hope I live as long after I'm pronounced dead.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
Amazing how the most inovative 2 years ago (Handera and Handspring) are the biggest losers today. And at least Handera is selling phones, WTF the clowns in Iowa are gonna do is anyones guess. Nice job leaving all the 330 users holding the bag with a POS unsupported unit.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
If you truly believe this. Sell all of your belongings and join the Handspring Commune. Maybe, Donna might hire you for janitorial services at Handspring.
It's not the consumer's job to provide corporate welfare, especially when the top management are living high-and-mighty on the expense account and waiting to exercise their golden parachute$.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
A company that gets people to buy into the Springboard concept, then leaves them hanging, that builds SD devices that don't have full SD function, is not a company that has read Dale Carnegie's book and that flaw will do them in. Nokia sells a lot of phones here, and Sony sells a lot of PDA's here. They not only can beat them locally, they can beat them here on their home turf.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
You're going to have to fire your information sources.
They never left doing the consulting work for starters. And as far as PDA work, they still have a bun or two in the oven.
"Nice job leaving all the 330 users holding the bag with a POS unsupported unit."
Troll. The same level of Support that's always been there for the 330, remains there. And the 330 owners still have a PDA that can do things no other PalmOS PDA can do (for the moment). Granted the rest are catching up.
Stop passing FUD as fact.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
RE: That's a 20% reduction
Catching up, how? Most people don't need a CF slot. It's nice to think of HandEra as the underdog company with the killer product, but you know that isn't realistic. BTW, Samsung manufactured the 330. Big companies always win.
Hamdspring Can Bite Me!
This newest news may postpone the funeral, but they already lost me and who knows how many others. They'll have to come out with a pretty awesome product for me to even think of giving them another dime!
RE: That's a 20% reduction
Hawkins and Dubinsky aren't so great after all.... Hmmm.
RE: That's a 20% reduction
They added SDIO to the Treo 90 last week:
www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=4172
Handspring backflips
RE: Handspring backflips
I still think they're nuts.
They had 10% of the handheld market sewn up, no matter what anyone else did they couldn't compete with the ease of Springboard module design. Why play "bet the company"?
RE: Handspring backflips
Because they never turned a profit selling Visors. They still have yet to turn a profit. At least by changing focus, they've convinced their investors that they're trying new avenues. Time will tell whether the Treo will save them or not.
Compeition is tougher, not easier
> some of the rules and come out with innovative
> handsets and platforms.
That is true, but the competition gets a lot tougher going against Nokia, Sony Ericsson, etc. than against Palm and PocketPC PDA's.
IMO, most of the communicator sales will go to the slimmer phones with PDA functions, like that snazzy new Sony Ericsson coming out late 2K2 running Symbian.
Personally, I think they should try these new devices but still have traditional PDA form factor models. I guess they still do, but it seems there will be no new such models coming from them.
I certainly am not counting them out, but I think they have some real challenges ahead. Hopefully they'll be up to it!
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
I wouldn't get my hopes up. Management wasn't "up to it" in the PDA market. If Handspring management believes they can compete against the behemoths like Nokia, Ericcson, et. al. then they are deluding themselves. They will have their heads handed back to them on a platter.
Is it really tougher?
Second, they know a lot about data devices and use a platform (Palm) that already has a large following and developer community. Symbian failed as a PDA platform, so why all of sudden is that a threat?
Third, what did Handspring have to do to add phone functions to the PDA? Not much considering that there were already phone chip sets available from the likes of TI, etc. So with that solution solved the only area where Handspring had to focus was on data - their strength. On the other hand (pardon the pun), phone manufacturers still have to learn to make their devices more like PDA's - something that they have not done successfully to date and something they still have to learn.
Finally, most of the competition in the phone market (Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola) also sell infrastructure equipment in addition to handsets. That divides their resources away from handsets where Handspring will focus.
Long term, I do not expect Handspring to vault into the top 5. I'm sure that they'll be happy to supply a single digit percentage of a huge market. But I do expect them to survive in the communicator market much the same way that Apple survived in the PC market against much bigger competition - IBM, Dell, Gateway, HP, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, etc.
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
-HS doesn't have all the piece to make smartphone as a data entwork. (server, the physical network, enterprise support service, etc)
-They are stuck with OS4.1 as a smartphone OS. not much else seen in the new generation to compete with the MS, Symbian alliance, that has already doing market trial for the next generation device.
-If you dont' control infrastructure, you are a bit player. No hope to compete with financial/marketing resource of the big boys.
Hanspring is dead, they don't control the OS, doesn't have key technology, be it enterprise data infrastructure, nor they make the most stylish phones out there.
They just hanging on to Treo and hope to milk it before it's dead by next year.
RE: What about Handera?
I bought the H330 mostly due to the great experience I had with the TRGPro and the capabilities of the machine. However, I have had to return 2 units to Handera under waranty (1 for screen, 1 for cracking plastic) and my experiences lately is that many programs are not working properly due to the proprietary nature of the H330's API and lack of an OS upgrade. So I feel like this thing is DEAD and Handera just says they will post any updates on thier website. What a differance from the helpful TRG days. I have been looking at just dumping the H330 and getting a Clie but I keep hearing that OS4.0 will be released along with a posible color OS5.0 machine. What should I do?
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
Big flow? They've been around for how long? With color screens for how long? Had a 144 kb service go back them up for how long? How can you say they are a big flop when the market is just in the top of the 1st inning?
- HS doesn't have all the piece to make smartphone as a data entwork. (server, the physical network, enterprise support service, etc)
Do they need all of this? Motorola out sold Qualcomm in CDMA phones while Qualcomm owned the licenses to the technology. I guess Microsoft, Dell and company need to pack it up in the PC business because they don't all all of the data network on the Internet.
-They are stuck with OS4.1 as a smartphone OS. not much else seen in the new generation to compete with the MS, Symbian alliance, that has already doing market trial for the next generation device.
OS5.0 came out, what 3 months ago tops. Using you logic, Plam who wrote OS5.0 and owns the technology still doesn't have a 5.0 device of any kind out yet. Besides, what does the OS have to do with it? Smartphones are about what you can do not about what OS you run. I guess I'm totally out of touch here since I'm on the web using Win 98 while the world has upgraded immediately to 2K, ME and XP. Being 3 versions behind must spell doom for me.
-If you dont' control infrastructure, you are a bit player. No hope to compete with financial/marketing resource of the big boys.
Ericsson is all but done in infrasturcture. Motorola is irrelevent. Micorsoft has no infrastructure in wireless. I guess they have no chance either.
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
More food for thought...
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
It's a big flop. look the number "by model", even by series or by "OS". it's peanuts. Current treo is just a phone, not particualrly good at it too mind you, with some organizer attach to it. There is no killer app yet. (no organizer and that expensive email is not a killer app)
>-I guess Microsoft, Dell and company need to pack it up in the PC business
if you want to sell a smartphoen with enterprise networking feature. than you got to have the piece. Otherwise youa re entering the consumer market, than you have to compete with price, style gimmick, and cute feture, which Handspring doesn't have any. (mp3? SD? tiny size? good price? can you say kyochera?)
> OS5.0 came out, what 3 months ago tops. Using you logic, Plam who wrote OS5.0 and owns the technology still doesn't have a 5.0 device of any kind out yet.
give it another 3 months, Hanspring still wont' come out with next generation treo. In fast pace, short lived PDA/smartphone market, 3 months will kill ya. (and please, Palm Inc making a phone? what a joke)
>Besides, what does the OS have to do with it?
Exactly my point isn't it? Palm OS is stagnate. It cannot come up with killer app that make owning a smartphone worthwile beside just a phone glued to an organizer. (youth market for eg: game, music, entertainment, all that cannot be done on current OS without a massive tweak. and no, B/W tetris and solitaire aren't good enough anymore)
> Ericsson is all but done in infrasturcture. Motorola is irrelevent. Micorsoft has no infrastructure in wireless. I guess they have no chance either.
-Ericcson doesn't have a decent next-gen OS. (same problem HS has)
-Motorola has been experiancing design flops (same as HS has)
-MS cannot yet enter phone market and running amock, cause they don't have first tier phone maker (neither is HS) Microsoft has been buying people left and right throwing hundreds of milions of dollar just to get this far. Can HS do that?
in fack HS is all the weakness combined together.
HS will be lucky to be a small player selling a costume made phone for carrier at range of 100-200K unit/yr in the future if they don't goof up yet again. And that's a joke.
RE: HandEra
1) Yes, the HandEra Screen API was a proprietary extension. The Sony Screen API was also a proprietary extension, but they also went with a proprietary card format, to boot. Sony out-marketed HandEra. Could any small company compete with that behemoth in terms of marketing dollars? The new PalmSource HighDensity API is the only "non-proprietary" screen API on an OS that is, guess what, proprietary.
2) Companies that talk too much about upcoming products end up with no one buying their current products. See also: Palm and the m505 release.
3) The 330 lacked color from day 1, and you bought it anyway. So did I. It still does all the same things for me, in the same grayscale that I paid for.
4) HandEra released several OS updates for the 330, free of charge. They haven't in a while now, because they're focusing on other matters, but did Palm offer a free upgrade? Not since the OS 3.3 days. Has Sony ever offered a free OS upgrade? No.
You have not been betrayed by HandEra. They're a company in business to make money. You paid for and received a device that you knew everything about (it wasn't ugly enough for you to not buy it, I see) and did exactly what it claimed to do, no more, no less. Now you're upset that they're not offering a clear upgrade path? Would you rather Sony's upgrade path, buy a new device every month for another $400?
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RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
HandEra's only claim to fame was CF and 320 x 240 res -- not even color. Not too impressive compared to what Sony's been doing.
RE: Compeition is tougher, not easier
The H330 is a POS, with know compatability and company too small and insignificant with no vision backing it up. The units develop screen and speaker problems. The plastic case is known to crack at the stylus and the lack of OS 4.0 is irreprehensible. These guys should have their liscense pulled for that crap. Even HandSpring ponied up for OS 4.1. Anyway I don't know why it even matters or why the 6 guys that bought the POS just don't get with the times and move on to a modern PDA. It seems to me that there are just a few die hard Handera zelots that keep posting crap about a unit that makes up .00001 of the palm market and Larry Garfiels seems to be one of the worst. Either this guy is on thier payroll or has to be the biggest shill of all time.
Finally, yes Handera may have been 1st at many things but they are also the LAST to capitalize on any of those inovations which in my book makes them even bigger losers. I can't wait till Sony just buys Palm and they dump all the excess bagagge.
And in a related story ...
An unnamed marketing director said "This is a great move ... now we can print 'Sony Rocks', 'All UR Base Are Belong Handspring', and 'Palm Suxorz'."
Kyocera and Samsung chose not to join the marketing alliance stating "those morons on PIC have no clue. Cellphone markets and PDA markets aer entirely different. Now that the transitional 3G network capabilities are being brought online, cellphone users are startign to see compelling reasons to upgrade to phones with greater functionality. We are not trying to attract PDA users, we are looking to enhance the experience for the huge userbase of cellphone users that typically upgrade their cellphone every 18 months."
Sony was heard to comment that 18 months is not their preferred upgrade schedule, citing bimonthly product releases as being compelling reasons for the Sony fanboys to upgrade on a more regular basis.
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Sarcasm guys. How many people here work in the cellular space (not just sellnig cellphones in the booth at a mall)? They are different markets.
RE: And in a related story ...
RE: And in a related story ...
RE: And in a related story ...
ive worked with telcos before (software engineer for handsets) as well. its a different market not pushed by the handset manufacturers, but by the carriers. it is also an area with a lot of possibilities - over the last 12 months the percentage of american households using cellphone rose by 7.9% (source ctia) ... can the same be said of pda users?
Handspring and my Sony NR70V experience
I played MP3 but lets face it I'm 48, and I work.
I played movies but nobody cared after the 10 second wow.
I showed high res pics but nobody cared
I am sick of my family anyway I don't look at pics of my wife, she is a pain in the ass anyway (like for 99%)
My kids don't talk to me anyway
What I need is:
A phone and Palm where I can see the weather, movies, and a browser on the go. The PERFECT thing would be a Treo 320 x 320, with a slot for memory card in case I need to carry a big file.
I sold my NR70V in Ebay and while I am excited about LOOKING at the NX90V coming, I really don't need:
mp3's
movies
high res pics
big screen
I need:
portability
320 x 320
access to email/internet at high speed on the road
Secondary wishes:
memory expansion card
camera?
I believe Handspring will do great with the Treo 400. I wonder when it will be here.
Why put a lot of functionality on a NR70V? While I am next to my computer I don't need it, and on the road I need a Treo like.
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That's a 20% reduction
It's only a matter of time before Handspring goes kaput.