Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) on Wednesday confirmed that the German Japanese joint venture will leave the PDA and PNA (Personal Navigation Assistant) market until end of 2007 which is the defacto end of the Windows Mobile-based Pocket Loox and therefore the end of the Pocket Loox T, C and N Series. In a statement, FSC spokesperson Amy Flécher confirmed earlier information which were previously confirmed by Uwe Romppel, Senior Director Business Development Volume Sales, already

Flécher said: "We made our decision due to the usual examination of the portfolios. It turned out that the traditional handheld segment (PDA) shrank for years and also many other manufacturers leave this segment. While the wireless handheld market grows fast, the PDA market moves on a very low basis with small volume. The trend is that the traditional handhelds are replaced by other devices such as PNAs or Smartphones. We will not invest into these product ranges.
Handhelds and handheld devices with push E-Mail-push will remain a niche market. In the future these services will be taken over by Smartphones - which is not our business at all. We observe that other manufacturers, that offer similar devices, have to fight with difficulties.

Sad to see that another Windows Mobile veteran is leaving the Windows Mobile space but frankly, the Pocket Loox T-series was way too bulky, heavy and expensive, compared to competing devices from other manufactures. No wonder, that FSC doesn't see a future in this market segment.

Cheers ~ Arne