What is the Pre's Target Market? 46
Michael Mace is a former Palm employee, in more recent years he's established a well-deserved reputation as one of the smartest voices in the mobile space. So we'd be remiss if we didn't point to his comments on the Pre fromhis blog, Mobile Opportunity.
He starts with a point that has come up before--the difference between the Pre and Palm's previous devices--and makes it more bluntly than most, almost alluding to the Greek myth of the phoenix:
Palm died. Palm OS died. Get over it.
Now let's talk about this new company, and product, that happens to be named Palm. I don't know if they'll survive or not, but they have a chance, and they're definitely interesting.
While he likes the hardware and software of the Pre, his top concern about the device and what it means for Palm is that the Pre's target market is unclear:
Mobile devices that sell well usually have a well-defined market of people who look at them and say, "that one's perfect for me."... [The Pre is] apparently perfect for people who want a compromise between a Blackberry and an iPhone, but don't need the best of either. Who are those people? And are there enough of them to make a business for Palm? I honestly don't know.
Mace does seem to describe the market that Palm claims to be aiming for pretty accurately. Palm and Elevation Partners have said that they're planning to be successful with both Apple and RIM still in the game. The question, then, is whether Palm is right that there are plenty of people who do fit in that segment and -- more importantly -- whether or not RIM and Apple will be able to expand their markets into that "fat middle" before the Pre can establish a place there.
Well, one more question: can the Pre actually eat into the customer base for either BlackBerry or the iPhone, or are those market segments solidified? Any switchers out there care to comment -- why does the Pre appeal to you as a BlackBerry or iPhone owner?
46 Comments
Thank god you don't see any Blackberry in it... I have a BB, and can't wait to switch back to Palm, I think BB is WAY overated the only thing its good at is Email, and even that is lacking options (think Chatteremail).
I really think this is THE perfect device. (Yes, its lacking SD card ect. But still a great device)
Thank god you don't see any Blackberry in it... I have a BB, and can't wait to switch back to Palm, I think BB is WAY overated the only thing its good at is Email, and even that is lacking options (think Chatteremail).
I really think this is THE perfect device. (Yes, its lacking SD card ect. But still a great device)
Thank god you don't see any Blackberry in it... I have a BB, and can't wait to switch back to Palm, I think BB is WAY overated the only thing its good at is Email, and even that is lacking options (think Chatteremail).
I really think this is THE perfect device. (Yes, its lacking SD card ect. But still a great device)
The biggest target market is the same market the iPhone has - the kuwelest gadget market. Pre wins hands down!
Now if the marketing turns this market on, and they've made a good start at CES, then the only problem will be keeping up with production.
Well, I think I am a good market to target.
I am 40. I travel some for work. Rely on emails. Have a family at home and in the past couple of years have started to text more and more with my spouse and friends. Heck, even my mom is texting me now. I have an iPod but if I could I would love to consolidate to one device.
I want:
1. an excellent phone
2. a great email device
3. easy/quick to use but still powerful PIM software
4. Syncing to a web service but also work
5. Music and video so I can use it to watch ripped movies and listen to my music collection (in iTunes right now).
6. a great browser so I can surf the web, get info, keep up on things while on the go or when I don't have my laptop.
7. I need a good Facebook app and something like poynt. Good web apps are essential.
So, I need pretty much everything in a smart phone. Right now the iPhone is the closest to this. But no multitasking and I think the interface is a little but hard to move around in.
I had a Palm V, Vx, T2, T3, 650 and finally 700p. The 700p killed me. Resets, bugs, bluetooth, and that ugly big form factor compared to everything else coming out was all I could take. I ended up switching to a Blackberry Curve.
I features I use are phone, texting, email, a few limited games and I watch some downloaded TV shows. I like it better than I thought I would. The trackball is really nice and is a good substitute for a touch screen the size of a Centro's. The OS is stable and most of it just works.
However, it lags some. Games basically stink. And video is just so-so. I like the keyboard and form factor but I would much prefer the larger screen of the Pre.
I had really looked into switching my wife and I to AT&T and picking up a couple of iPhones. She would love it (is on a Centro now). But the rates would be $40 more per month and with my daughter wanting a phone in 1-2 years, it will be even more.
Then I saw the Pre announcement. I knew it was coming but I had basically written Palm off. Now I am really excited to see the Pre.
The most difficult thing for me will be not buying it the day it comes out. After the 650 and 700p I am very leary of buying a Palm phone on day one. The smart play is to wait 2-3 weeks and let the other "beta testers" give it a try first. I jumped on the 700p and was very sorry.
@Homie "The most difficult thing for me will be not buying it the day it comes out. After the 650 and 700p I am very leary of buying a Palm phone on day one."
Sprint has a 30-day return policy, so I'm not too afraid of getting a Pre on day 1. I've tried multiple phones during that time period and returned them without any hassle. They will not renew your contract or charge a return fee if you bring everything back to the store within that timeframe.
Darn it. Can someone delete this note and 2 of my 3 posts?
That's what I get for trying to post with a friggin Blackberry.
no worries, fixed. :D
I think the question is: Will Apple's iPhone 3 fix enough of the shortcomings to get this market?
Will they introduce multitasking? Cut and paste? Address the poor battery life?
If they fix these things and beef up the processor Palm will really struggle. There have been a lot of "superior" devices that have been unable to stem the market momentum of the leader. Take iPods vs. Some great MP3 players. Or Linux/OSX vs. Windows.
I'll bet Palm would be pretty happy with 25-35% of the iPhone market. It will take a while to slow the iPhone momentum. (I sure wish the Pre had been intro'ed this time last year).
So Palm really needs to get the young, urban, gadget savy uses described by another poster. If they can successfully take a bunch of them then the more of the mass market can be siphened off the iPhone.
A side note: did RIM blow it with the Storm or what? Lol. That was the phone I wanted till it came out. Now I will definitely pass.
Dupe, Sorry.
Another dupe.
I am a heavy smartphone user, both personally and professionally.
Verizon: Kyo 6035, Kyo 7135, Treo 650. Then AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8310.
I briefly considered an iPhone for the beautiful graphical display, but after using an iPhone, I realized that the BlackBerry is actually a better multimedia device. The iPhone lacks an SD card, stereo Bluetooth, video capture, camera flash, and MMS. Also considering the lack of PDA functionality (e.g., Tasks, Notes, Doc2Go), GPS navigation, multitasking, copy/paste, and a removeable battery, then I see the iPhone as a half-baked feature phone at best (but certainly not a smartphone).
The BlackBerry packs a tremendous amount of functionality, useability, and stability into a small package, but if the Pre can give me that kind of functionality with some of the iPhone "bling," then I'll switch.
My big concern at this point is whether the Pre can do desktop PDA sync. I need to manage all my PDA data in one place, but my personal PDA is prohibited on the corporate exchange server, so desktop sync is my only option.
I have previously owned a palm m130, T|E, and T5. Shortly after getting the T5 my needs and want began to out grow the design and capability. Not to mention no support for vista so I could no longer and still can't sync it with the pc.
The first aspect I needed was a keyboard for a lot of text entry. The handwriting using stylus or on screen KB is ok for short jotting of a few words but for a paragraph or more just was clunky and annoying. I tried to make up for that by getting a wireless KB for it but it was useless for spontaneous use and required setup on a surface to use. The second aspect I need was multitasking. Many palm apps were designed to not remember their state so that you couldn't switch between apps quickly when you needed to work with more than one at the same time.
So I needed an alternative to which there weren't many options. There was windows mobile (pure PDA and smartphones) but I refuse to buy anything MS unless I have to for many reason I won't go into. So the only other option that I could see that would work for me was blackberry. So I got the curve 8330. And for the last 9 months it has taken care of those needs and wants I was lacking at the cost of screen size and the advantages of easy navigation of the touch screen and other things having a touch screen made easier.
Enter the palm pre. I get all the aspects of the blackberry I need and want with the added ease of navigation and other things a touchscreen makes easier, plus the large screen I gave up moving to a blackberry. Honestly there isn't anything really special I seen in blackberry as an average consumer. I think their BES is where the specialness is at and since that has nothing to do with the average consumer the blackberry will continue to be more a device for business professionals than for the average consumer.
"[The Pre is] apparently perfect for people who want a compromise between a Blackberry and an iPhone, but don't need the best of either"
I think this statement reveals some truth. And that is it is a bad idea to focus on a niche market. Because by doing so it makes it hard to branch out to other target markets. A prime example of this is blackberry. They want more than just business professionals to like and buy their stuff. But because it is so focused on the other market it even now still lacks capabilities non-business consumers want. And that is use of the internet for non-profession reasons (youtube, flash content, facebook, myspace, and desktop like viewing of casual internet browsing), multimedia (high quality mp3 player, multi format video player built in and not expensive 3rd party apps), gaming (not just cheezy stuff to pass time at boring staff meetings type stuff). Enter the iphone, the exact opposite extreme of the blackberry, all the entertainment values at the cost of the practicalness of a hardware KB and as far as I'm aware personal productivity aspects that palm and winmo PDAs and blackberries did good with.
In essence it appears palm's webOS that is on the pre is suited to work for all purposes and markets much like how PC OSes are. This allows them to build devices to fit any or all markets. Their first device targetting to group of people who find niether blackberry or iphone suitable to their needs and wants. I for one think that palm has a bright idea in that regard and I think between webOS and the pre palm will once again be a great company. I think it very likely they will equally share the smartphone market with the big guys, and I also think if they are smart can dominate the PDA and netbook markets with their new webOS. I for one would buy a webOS netbook given its size and hardware set are right. Which is where current netbooks I feel have failed along with their pricing.