Handspring Trims Visor Prices

Just in time to attract Mother's Day shoppers, Handspring has sliced $50 off the price of its popular Visor Deluxe handheld computer.

The 8MB model, which comes in five different colors, drops in price from $249 to $199. Handspring will throw in a free leather case ($24.95 retail) with each purchase.

Handspring also offers a $50 rebate on the purchase of the Visor Platinum, and $30 rebates on select Springboard modules with the purchase of any Visor handheld PC. Those offers, and the leather case giveaway, are good until Father's Day, June 17.

The Visor Platinum, which uses the 33-MHz Motorola DragonBall VZ processor, is priced at $299. It was introduced last fall along with Handspring's first color device, the Prism. Springboard modules included in the promotion are the Margi Systems Presenter-To-Go, the Eyemodule digital camera, the Wristband ThinModem, the Magellan GPS Companion and the Xircom Springport Modem 56 GlobalAccess.

PDA Sales Keep Climbing

Handspring sold more than 1 million Visors through the first ten months of last year and has grabbed a 20 to 30 percent share of the retail market through the first quarter, according to a company spokesperson. The products are available online at Handspring's Web site and at other online and offline retailers.

Analysts at Cahners In-Stat Group expect PDA sales to continue growing an average of 28 percent yearly through 2004, according to a recent report. They expect the so-called palmtop devices to continue outstrip handheld PCs, larger devices with a small keyboard, which are actually declining in sales, according to In-Stat research.

Palm, the palmtop pioneer, continues to dominate the palmtop market, according to the analysts. However, its market share is eroded from 72 percent in 1999 to 65 percent in 2000 as Handspring and Pocket PC devices make gains, the analysts note.

Competitors Cut, Too

Handspring says the special offers are a seasonal promotion and insist they are not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the April 11 price drops by Palm, which lowered the cost of three of its own handhelds. The Palm M100 went to $129 from $149; Palm 5X to $299 from $349; and the Palm 3c to $299 from $329.

"While these (price cuts) are a reaction to a very competitive market, these are not directly a reaction to the recent cuts by Palm," says Brian Jaquet, a Handspring spokesperson. "They are not a knee-jerk reaction by any means."

Jacquet says the Visor line has been very popular among first-time buyers, especially women.

"It's not like we are pulling straight from Palm or someone else, It's more like people who are first-time buyers," he says. "We feel that's proof this market is growing and that many more customers are being drawn to it."

(Margret Johnston of IDG News Service contributed to this report)