Mobile Solution Providers Want Road-Map Plans From HP-Compaq

Hewlett-Packard

Customers are concerned about the life of specific product lines, said Mike Freeman, vice president of mobile at Sarcom, Lewis Center, Ohio. "Our customer base is a very fickle group," he said. "If [the merger goes through and there is a combined product set, there will be some complaints." Freeman and other solution providers said HP can alleviate customer concern by at least letting them know product plans right away.

Compaq's iPaq and HP's Jornada are the leading players in the Pocket PC space in the United States. So when it comes to mobile, many experts said they were unable to predict how the integration plans would shake out. Sure, Compaq's iPaq can claim to be a clear market-share winner in the PocketPC space, they said, but HP's Jornada road map could have innovations of its own worth preserving.

"The question you and I don't know is from a road-map perspective where is HP headed?" said Dan Elliott, vice president of mobile solutions at CompuCom, Dallas. "It could end up being a combo of two technologies and neither one coming out with the product that takes the lead."

Up until now the two companies have differed little in their product designs. Both plan to offer integrated wireless/voice capabilities in the United States this year and both are supporting Bluetooth technologies. Moreover, each offers similar form factors.

In terms of sell-in to the enterprise, Compaq maintains the edge, with brand recognition and add-ons for security and other enterprise-centric applications. At the end of 2001, Compaq owned 9.6 percent of the worldwide handheld market, compared with 6.2 percent for HP's Jornada, said Alex Slawsby, an analyst at research IDC. Palm still leads with 42.6 percent and Handspring claims a respectable 11.1 percent, he said.