Registered: Feb 2000
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Posts: 1

Feb 21 has come and gone and I'm still stuck in Germany without a Visor. Anybody out there have an idea when I'll finally be able to pick up a Visor in a store? I fail to fathom Handspring's reasoning for not shipping a Visor to me through the APO. Despite this poor judgement on their part, I WANT A VISOR!!!! Any news??

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 32

I'm in the US and still havent seen Visors in retail...keep in mind they will be delayed even further in Europe.

have any US friends who would receive it and then fly over to deliver it?



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seanseanadams
your friend and mine

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Don't forget: HS doesn't measure time the we do. *Handspring* said February -- that's "Handspring time" for, say, June.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 8

quote:

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Originally posted by Gameboy70:
Don't forget: HS doesn't measure time the we do. *Handspring* said February -- that's "Handspring time" for, say, June.

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Boy, that's news to me. You mean there are people actually got their Visors before mid-October, as originally promised? Wow. Even Jeff Hawkins' own daughters didn't get theirs before then.

Or do you mean that some current orders are being received well inside of the official four weeks turnaround?

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 117

As far as I have been able to determine, Handspring never said they would be in retail outlets by Feb 20. That was a rumor based on the suposition that they would try to steal some thunder from Palm. Palm anounced Feb 20 as the release date of the IIIc Color Palm.

Why would Handspring rush to retail when they are selling every unit they can make on their web site at full price?

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Life is to short for boring food

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

I reviewed the articles about the retail announcement, and you're right: HS never mentioned a date for retail release (beyond "soon"), but they don't exactly deserve a medal for being cagey.

Why would Handspring "rush" (six months!) to retail when they are selling every unit they can make on their web site at full price?

A couple of points:
�Full price *is* retail
�The focus should be on the customer, not HS
�Handspring time is contagious. Notice that all modules slated for Q1 are now Spring/Summer releases. Why should Springboard manufacturers feel obligated to release their products for product with no mass market distribution?
�Some aspects of HS' production and inventory problems are beyond their control (they have to rely on other suppliers, etc.), but public relations is fully within their control. They could end all speculation by committing to *some* release date, even a distant one.
�With benefit of hindsight, it might have been better to have avoided online sales altogether and manufacture enough units for a retail release. This method has a long history of success.

Oh, and a word of advice to our German friend. Since APO's are really domestic shipments, try ordering it again -- but don't tell them it's going to Germany. Act like it's a regular order, and just give them the APO address without calling attention to it. For all the CSR is concerned, it's going to New York. Hope this helps.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 117

By saying �full price� I mean to say that if selling wholesale to traditional retail outlets, Handspring would sell it for some large percent less than they are getting from the "retail" consumer on their web site.

This is all that is meant.

The point is: they are successful, selling all they can make; the need for the broader, traditional retail outlet simply is not there.

Dell and Gateway have been extremely successful despite not being available in traditional retail outlets.


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Life is to short for boring food

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 12

Hey all,

Another point is similar to the "Why sell in retail channels when they can get full profit selling it themselves and selling every Visor they can make?".

When the Matrox G400 Max came out they sold it both at their website and "claimed" that they were selling it through retail and web outlets. I saw it at virtually every major online retailer. Thing is, none of the retailers received a single shipment for months. And Matrox was constantly pushing back their shipment dates to these retailers. They simply were selling them too fast on their web page and what little they had left for retail shipments were spread so thin that lots of places never got them. I called two retailers and they said that they have hundreds/thousands (I forget which) of people on backorder. My local computer store received a shipment mid November and it consisted of TWO G400 Max's.

The point is, if Handspring is already selling them as fast as they can make them...all going retail would do is put a database entry in most stores computers saying that the Visor is backordered. Which is worse? Selling exclusively through their webpage or claiming it's for sale everywhere when in actuality it's nowhere? Easy answer there I think.

Vital

[This message has been edited by Vital (edited 03-03-2000).]

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Handspring start taking orders way before they were fully set-up to meet the demands of customers (both in terms of order fulfillment and customer support. Do you folks really want Handspring to release the visor into retail stores before they are able to provide the support and meet customer demand for the product? Be careful what you wish for folks.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

SpiceUmUp,

Intersting point about the direct sales, but this might not be a good long-term strategy. Dell and Gateway, like all successful online merchants, are largely business-to-business enterprises. The Visor is selling like hotcakes right now because us geeks who've proactively hunted down info on the latest and greatest PDA will do anything to get our hands on it.

But geeks are finite in number. Donna Dubinsky claimed HS was aiming for 1M-unit sales by the end of the year. If one person's estimate is right, HS is doing about 1400 sales a day, which would put them at about half their sales goal at year's end. They're going to have to expand their sales base at some point, and the sooner the better. The Visor is presumably aimed at the consumer electronics market, and if HS wants it to get beyond cult status, IMO, retail is the only answer.