Retail Report Volume 4: Palm Products Disappearing From Office Depot?
Office Depot has long been a staunch supporter of the full range of Palm PDAs and accessories. For a while, Office Depot even offered select Sony Clies alongside Palm’s handheld lineup. While Office Depot has of course downsized their PDA offerings in recent years, they could always be counted on to offer at least a handful of the most popular Palm peripherals and usually-working display models of Palm’s remaining handhelds.
Unfortunately, trips to two local Office Depot stores over the past week have revealed some information that another longtime stalwart retail partner may be giving up on Palm’s aging and unspectacular lineup of products.
One of the Office Depot stores, opened just two years ago, just completed an extensive remodeling and reorganizing of the entire store. The remnants of the PDA display are a handful of Handmark software CDs and some recent-vintage Palm PDA accessories such as Tungsten E/E2 cases, Tungsten T & LifeDrive styli and a number of Z22 cases and styli. All of the peripherals were marked with florescent yellow clearance price tags and some of the Handmark offerings appear to have been received permanent price reductions. Prices for the clearance accessories ranged from $1.01 for a 3-pack of Z22 styli to $48 and change for a Palm Wireless IR Keyboard. A Tungsten T5/Palm TX cradle kit (see my review here) was also available for $35. No Treo-specific accessories were available save for the universal Athena/Multi-Connector AC adapter and car charger.
The entire PDA display was empty, having been replaced with GPS units and various flavors of MP3 and PMP units. No lingering Palm signage or literature remains and a sales clerk seemed blissfully unaware of any plans to reintroduce Palm products. The full range of Palm’s remaining three handhelds as well all of the standard accessory offerings are still available for MSRP on OfficeDepot.com. Presumably, Palm’s 11th-hour cancellation of the Foleo Mobile Manager was a drastic blow to the company’s plans to maintain a non-Treo presence outside of cellular carrier stores. It’s quite unfortunate (yet understandable) to see Office Depot distancing itself from Palm, as the office supply giant usually maintained a good stock of PDAs and accessories as well as better-than-average sales clerks and periodic PDA promotions with large mail-in rebate offers. These factors combined with their agreeable return policies and the Rewards cashback program made Office Depot a favored destination for eager PDA enthusiasts looking to grab the newest Palm model as soon as possible upon release. I awarded Office Depot a solid B+ during both of my previous retail roundup articles.
If Office Depot is indeed phasing out Palm handhelds, this leaves CompUSA (itself a victim of myriad store closings) and Staples as the primary nationwide brick and mortar retailers for Palm products. Best Buy is also maintaining a small but consistent Palm presence in the low-traffic area of their stores containing office supplies and calculators. Of course, Palm’s airport/mall retail stores and kiosks offer nearly the entire line of Palm-branded products but these stores are few and far between in number.
Check out PIC’s previous retail roundup articles: the last one was volume 3, followed by Volume 2 and the first report from October 2006.
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RE: Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
PDA's Past and Present:
iPod Touch ???? Maybe soon.
Palm - IIIxe, Vx, M500, M505, Tungsten T, TX
Handspring - Edge, Platinum, Deluxe
Sony - SJ22
Apple - MP110, MP2000, MP2100
RE: Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
Z33:
-200 mhz CPU (same as Z22)
-32MB NVFS (same as Z22)
-320x320 version of the Z22's current LCD. If $ is an issue then go with a smaller, Centro-sized 320x320 LCD or just an improved 160x160 TFT (*not* DSTN).
-Same FF as Z22, just a bit smaller all around with better build quality
-microSD slot
-3.5mm stereo headphone jack
-Have PTunes, a few games etc. in ROM
Give it a $75-$100 MSRP
T|E3:
-64mb NVFS
-Same 320x320 LCD as T|E2
-Same CPU as E2
-Bluetooth 1.2
-Otherwise, same features & FF as E2. Give it a $150 MSRP
Palm could go out on a limb here and do one of several things. The could make the E3 just a mildly updated E2 but give it thinner, sleeker Palm V-esque styling. Retro PDAs, anyone? Or they could give the E2 a thumboard and make it basically a cellular-less Treo, sort of a modern Treo 90. Or Palm could kill the E2 entirely and just have a low-end Z PDA and a high-end TX PDA.
TX2:
-128mb NVFS (same as TX)
-416mhz CPU (same as T5/LD)
-1,2, or 4GB internal storage volume w/ drive mode
-Much more DBheap/cache than TX
-MUCH higher capacity battery (at least 1800mAh) than TX
-Fullsize SDHC slot. "Fix" Garnet so it sees 4GB+ file volumes.
-Better build quality and no saggy power button
-Built-in microphone and charge LED. As a bonus, offer some decent VOIP software on the bundled CD. Not everyone wants to sell their soul to the carriers
-Stick another programmable hard button or two somewhere on the top panel or the side of the unit. Have it defeault to screen rotate (ala LifeDrive) or launch the voice recorder app but of course make its function programmable
-Consolidate BT & wi-fi onto the same buttton on the DIA bar. Bring the "home" button back
-802.11g if it can be easily/cheaply implemented
-User-selectable Graffiti 1/2. Or have G2 standard and sell a $20 G1 plugin that's just as fast & accurate as G1 was on th T|T
-Bluetooth 1.2.
-Huge software bundle in ROM (Google maps, DTG 10, PTunes Deluxe etc)
-Consistent LCD supplier and a better quality non-yellow LCD w/ a brighter backlight
-Offer both GSM & CDMA BT DUN (carrier approved) and marketi it as a "Mobile Phone Companion". Have PhoneLink software/init strings/drivers updated monthly. Clearly indicate WHICH networks and carriers it's compatible with on the box and on palm.com
-Offer a reasonably priced sync/charge cradle that WORKS
MSRP of $299.99 (yes I know this is higher than what we're used to but it's still affordable and Palm cannot afford to squeeze their suppliers like, say, Apple or Sandisk can)
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
RE: Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
I would also like to see Palm better develop the add-on accessory angle (like with the Bluetooth keyboard) and brand a remote camera that would connect via WiFi or Bluetooth or SDIO even. Sony had a Clie with Bluetooth BIP Remote Camera profile and it could remote control a Sony camera - very cool PDA function. Did anyone ever see the Sony-Ericson ROB-1 remote control camera - how cool was that? Definitely a TX2 needs a much improved Bluetooth stack as the current stack is more noticable fro what it CAN'T do.
A TX2 should better expand the mobile computing platform (Foleo's promise, perhaps). Unfortunately, we have lowered our expectations for Palm.
RE: Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
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Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/
Palm stores
Whenever I show my supposedly decrepid Zire 71 to friends, they are generally amazed by the screen and what you can do with it (even it pales next to today's stuff). Yet most stores today just throw crud up on cradles (in many cases, not even working Palms, just "dummy" models) and think that's going to sell to anybody.
RE: Palm stores
Microsoft owns the world.
RE: Palm stores
They're not Palm employees. I believe they are contract workers -- aka temps. I'm sure not even their paychecks generate excitement in them.
RE: Yes, because it's 2008
"I believe in the atomic bomb."
Blogging at http://agabus.com">Agabus.com.
Palm V > Vx > Clie Peg T615C > T3 > Clie TH55 > T3 > Treo 650 > Treo 700p & T3!
RE: Yes, because it's 2008
(just think about it)
---
"home is where my computer is..."
RE: Yes, because it's 2008
"I believe in the atomic bomb."
Blogging at http://agabus.com">Agabus.com.
Palm V > Vx > Clie Peg T615C > T3 > Clie TH55 > T3 > Treo 650 > Treo 700p & T3!
ignore your customers....
As much as I like my Treo, I'm not stupid enough to think that it's perfect for EVERYONE who uses a PDA. In fact, for everyone I've turned on to a Treo, their entry point to the Palm experience was a PalmOS PDA, without exception.
Now, I know Office Depot is still stocking jelly beans and floor cleaner, so if Palm has made their devices less relevant to an office environment than jelly beans it's their own fault.
PDAs are a "gateway drug" to the smartphone purchase, and Palm's near complete shunning of maintaining and improving their PDA line will only hurt them more over time. Sure, the Centro's neat and cheaper (with a contract), but that's a 2-year commitment and has a minuscule screen for teenage eyes. Palm is cutting themselves off at the knees, probably killed off the PDA team to develop the Fooleo.
|
**Another vote for a >100MB RAM Treo**
RE: ignore your customers....
PDAs are a "gateway drug" to the smartphone purchase
I think of it this way - People who use PIM/PDA *functionality* of a device are far more likely to have brand-loyalty to devices - or at least want a guarantee of their PIM data portability. When PDAs didn't have a cellular radio in them, there was no service provider or contract pushing them to keep a device for a period of time or upgrade in a period of time. People bought new PDA when they needed a new one or when new functionality in new devices made them want one.
In general, people tend to get a new phone every 2 to 3 years. Most people will get whatever is being pimped by their service provider. What I don't think Palm factored into the kneel-before-the-cell-providers strategy is that they run the risk of losing a large fraction of their customer base every 2-3 years when customers replace their old phones with one of a limited number of devices selected by the service providers.
Would seem to me that phone users are fickle where PDA users are far more loyal -- as evidenced by all of the banter here by the grumpy old Palm-haters here who still wish Palm would surprise them and take the large doses of good advice administered alongside well-deserved bashing.
USR Palm Pilot 1000 --> Palm Pilot Professional --> TRG SuperPilot --> Palm IIIc --> Palm V --> Palm M505 --> Palm M515 --> Tungsten T|2 --> Treo 600 --> LifeDrive --> iPhone
Franklin Covey
Now Office Depot is another story, they have *always* held on to stuff for *way* too long and never want to give a break on price. If this stuff is marked down, it's gone.
Palm is a phone company now. *They* are the ones that decided to declare the PDA dead, not 'the market' If you don't believe that then explain to me, please, the difference between an iPod and a PDA? (Aside from the fact that Apple is *trying* to cripple the Touch to not be a PDA)
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Well, Palm doesn't have much to sell
"I believe in the atomic bomb."
Blogging at http://agabus.com">Agabus.com.
Palm V > Vx > Clie Peg T615C > T3 > Clie TH55 > T3 > Treo 650 > Treo 700p & T3!