News
Issue #2002 - 38 (October 2002)
(Updated Oct. 8, 2002)

DEVICES

HP to introduce mid-range iPaq

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard plans to take on Palm Inc. with a smaller and cheaper version of its iPaq handheld computer in time for the holiday season, an executive said on Wednesday. 

The move would put the most popular handheld powered by Microsoft Corp. software, the iPaq, squarely in the price range of industry leader Palm, which pioneered the handheld industry and uses its own software platform. 

Cindy Box, HP's marketing director for handhelds, said in an interview with Reuters the new iPaq would launch in time for holiday sales and mark HP's entry into the $200 to $400 range, which represents about half of the market in unit sales. 

At present, the cheapest iPaq has a suggested price of about $400, although some retailers discount the computer, she said. 

Handheld device unit shipments fell 10 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to International Data Corp, with analysts saying consumers are waiting for the economy to improve and vendors to offer more compelling products. 

HP's iPaq, inherited from Compaq Computer Corp. in the companies' May merger, had 19 percent of the 2.6-million-unit second-quarter market, while Palm led with 32 percent, International Data Corp said. 

HP's new low-end offering is a slim, silver-colored computer similar in size and layout to the sleek Palm V, which is a design standard in the category, and has a bright color screen and expansion slot. 

In addition, HP will launch a new high-end iPaq with integrated WiFi wireless connectivity and an integrated fingerprint reader for security, Box said. 

Source: Reuters

For more information: www.hp.com  and http://www.reuters.com

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory:  The new HP has now become second largest supplier of handheld devices (not counting the smart phones). iPaq has become a popular PDA but its price kept it away from the medium and low -end market. The new product will certainly help HP in stealing additional share of the market from Palm. With this, Microsoft's Pocket PC is becoming a formidable challenger to Palm OS. For the enterprise market, the high-end iPaq is far more interesting, especially with integrated WiFi WLAN connectivity. We would also like to see models with integrated GPRS and 1xRTT CDMA network connectivity to match always-on Blackberry-like functionality. 

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