This weekend, The Globe and Mail featured an article that looked at how HP got back into the mobile device game with the arrival of David Rothschild, vice president of the handheld unit. HP used a processed it called the best imaginable provider to understand what its customers were looking for rather than trying to deliver solutions that matched current capabilities. HP came away with a long list of suggestions that it used in its recent revamp of its handheld lineup with 5 new models, and a host of supporting mobile software programs, services and accessories.
HP also still sees growth in the traditional PDA market, hence the new iPAQ 100 and 200 series. “The PDA consumer market is very small and shrinking,” he said. “The PDA business market actually has some growth in it — not the same kind of growth as we see in the smart phone business — but we still see that it has growth in it." My guess would be that as others leave this space, HP is hoping to pick up their business.