The Opportunity Became Obvious

The market research, together with scores of unsolicited comments from people asking about a combined device, clearly indicated that there was an opportunity for a multifunction communication device. Many of the users of existing mobile phones, mobile Internet devices, and organizers expressed an unfulfilled need for such a device. Many of those who were shown the prototype combined device expressed a strong purchase intent. It was obvious that a percentage of people wanted to add a mobile phone to their organizer, or to add an organizer to their mobile phone. Many more wanted to add e-mail capability. Handspring firmly believed that it had identified a new niche.

Handspring reasoned that there were two large consumer segments in which this opportunity existed. The first was the fifteen to twenty million users of Palm organizers. Based on its research, Handspring believed that a percentage of these people would want to replace their organizer with a device that included a mobile phone. The second was the huge number of highend mobile phone users. The research indicated that a percentage of these people currently felt a need for an organizer, but did not want to carry another device. Handspring believed that a merged device would appeal to many of these people. Given the size of these two segments, Handspring believed that there was a sizable opportunity.