From blue screens to screen blues for handheld manufacturers

2000-05-25

Not so long ago, the bane of computers was the blue screen of death. Today, the world has moved on – handheld manufacturers are more concerned about having any screens at all, or at least ones worth looking at. Hewlett Packard are red-faced over the fact that their new PocketPC-based device can only display 4,000 colours, whilst Palm are facing supply problems of their own. These are exactly the sorts of events that cause shake-ups in the industry.

First of all, let’s look at Hewlett-Packard. The manufacturer with a reputation for the highest possible quality was embarrassed to admit that its new handheld had been beset by design problems. According to News.com, a 16-bit component was accidentally substituted with a 12-bit component, meaning that the number of colours that can be displayed has been constrained to 4,000. This is an order of magnitude less than that expressed in the marketing literature. It is quite a surprise that Hewlett Packard should let this one through. It is also an indication of the reality that is faced by all technology companies developing complex products, where even a small error can have enormous consequences The message is: buyer beware, don’t believe the marketing. Despite the fact that this error has not involved the king of hype, namely Microsoft, this may be just too much reality to bear coming as it is just at the moment when the company is pushing hard its new PocketPC platform. This release of the now-defunct Windows CE is “new and improved,” covering the tracks of poor synchronisation, bugs and usability problems that beset previous versions of the software. The last thing the Seattle software giant needed was further evidence of technological weakness, even if this time it was not the cause.

Palm has had its own share of display problems – this time, due to supply being unable to keep up with demand. This is not just an issue for Palm, but for the whole LCD market, particularly with the need for enhanced screens for WAP phones and other electronic devices. Let’s face it, today if it hasn’t got a natty screen it’s probably not worth having. Plus, if it wasn’t enough to have screen shortages, Palm has had problems sourcing sufficient Flash memory. At the moment it is still possible to find Palm handhelds on the market, but some companies are already out of stock and are taking back-orders. Interestingly no problems have yet hit Palm clone manufacturer Handspring. Maybe the latter had a stock surplus due to its initial difficulties in managing the glut of requests for the devices when they came on the market a couple of months ago. Also, the Handspring device does not use Flash memory. It could just be that the fault lies with Palm, being unable to manage its own supply chains. Whatever the case, the danger signs should be flashing for Palm, which cannot afford to trip over and lose the lead to an increasingly slick competitor from Microsoft and its partners. If Palm is having screen shortages now, it needs to get its act together before the summer, when a lowering of LCD prices will fuel a new boom in their use.

Palm still holds the lion’s share of the market, but the next few months will be make or break for the handheld manufacturer. Ultimately the company could be living on borrowed time as smarter, more functional mobile phones start to replace the need for handhelds. So far, Nokia, Ericsson and the like have shown only partial interest in borrowing technology from the handheld market, with Symbian as the main contender. The next six months will be very interesting indeed, and neither Palm nor Microsoft can afford to make any mistakes.

(First published 25 May 2000)