May 2, 2000
Visor Deluxe leads sales

by Shawn Barnett
Visor Deluxe has claimed 26.8 percent of retail sales since their retail launch in mid-April, according to research firm PC Data. Other news agencies have reported that Handspring bested Palm in sales, but it's really only the Visor that bested all other individual Palm units in sales. Adding up the figures for all the various models tells the (almost) true story. Sales of the Visor Deluxe added to sales of the Visor at 10.7 percent equals 37.5 percent of sales to Handspring. Adding the combined sales of Palm units--Palm IIIe (14.6%), Palm IIIxe (14.1%), Palm Vx (10.9%), Palm IIIc (7%), Palm VII (9.3%), Palm V (17.4%), and the Palm IIIx (6.5%)--shows that Palm is ahead with 79.8 percent of overall sales. That is, unless you add the claimed Handspring percentages to the claimed Palm percentages, and you get 117.3. Something's amiss with the numbers, some of which came through c|net and some which came direct from PC Data (that Palm V stat may be the culprit). If you take PC Data's Handspring stats as true, that leaves Palm with 62.5 percent of the Palm OS retail market. Regardless, that doesn't take anything away from Visor's stellar performance in the market. Their USB HotSync, Springboard expansion slot, improved software, and fun colors make for a very attractive package, one that has many buyers buying and buying.

In related news, Handspring is available in Europe, via Handspring's European site: www.handspring.com/europe "Visor will also be available this month through leading computer and consumer electronics retailers MediaMarkt in Germany and Dixons in the UK. Microwarehouse and Computer Warehouse will both offer the Visor along with Springboard modules and accessories via mail order in the UK. Microwarehouse will also provide mail order sales in the German and Nordic regions."