Another PDA maker dropping out

Looks like Sony is getting out of the PDA market. So it looks like it comes down to HP and PalmOne as the 2 left fighting it out for the PDA market.  Sony from the article is going to focus on the smartphone market with the Sony Ericsson brand.  Does the community here think that this is just another nail in the traditional PDA coffin?  My opinion is that the smartphones just do not have enough power to be end-all when it comes to mobile computing and that the notebook and TabletPC's that are extremely small are just too big.  So what will be the killer device?  Something I have thought of is a smartphone that can be "hooked" to a module that contains: a larger screen, extra ports and other extras that do not need to be in the phone.  I like the idea of having a small factor device to carry in my pocket and then having a larger device that can utilize the phones memory and functions but have easier input and visual capabilities.  So any other thoughts?

phones like the XNA are the future, all the power of Windows CE 2003 SE whatever it's called, and the power of the fast mobile intel thingys with the ability to use as a cell phone.  those are the future PDA Cells with VOIP too.

I think the stand alone PDA is dead. I really liked my Treo 300 although it's battery life sucked. All I really used my PDA for was to keep track of contact info and important dates.

Just my 2 bits

~ Knute

Perhaps for 'personal' use, PDA's will be replaced by smart phones.  However, there is an entire business side to PDA's that I think is set to/just starting to take off.  PDA's are a boon to DR's, Inventory Clerks, salesmen, etc.  And at 1/6 the price or less of a tablet, I don't forsee them going anywhere.

(P.S. You forgot dell as a maker of pda's) 

What about the PDA's Dell offer? They do tend be cheaper than what HP offer. Most Dell hardware is cheaper and if it wasn't for them PC's probably would be more expensive than they are now.

Yes I forgot about Dell.  I do believe that they might force HP out of the PDA market.  But can the PocketPC live with 2 makers?  I know there are multiple PC makers but I also wonder what the profit margin is on the PDA's?

err there are other makers than Dell and HP.  acer, Asus, Mitac, viewsonic and some others.

cwoodruff wrote:

Yes I forgot about Dell.  I do believe that they might force HP out of the PDA market.  But can the PocketPC live with 2 makers?  I know there are multiple PC makers but I also wonder what the profit margin is on the PDA's?

I was about to reply about Dell. And to answer your questions:

1. The amount of makers isn't what matters, it is the amount of customers.

2. It is likely to be very good because Dell went into it. They don't go into something that isn't profitable. To my understanding, until Dell went into it the Profit margins were absurd.