e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[murgirl]

Wistron promises "new client" PDA shipments in time for Christmas
David Tzeng, Taipei; Chou Hua-hsin, DigiTimes.com [Friday 9 August 2002] []
Wistron will deliver handhelds in time for Christmas for "a new client" as originally planned and "will not lose money" on the contract, said Dixon Cheng, the company president.
The pledge came during an interview with DigiTimes, and the executive, as is the custom of the famously secretive OEM industry here, did not give details about the client other than his promise that Wistron would fulfill the order.
Still, Cheng's precious few words seemed to allude to an earlier DigiTimes report that the PC contract maker, formerly Acer's design and manufacturing unit, has made a deal with Dell Computer to supply its first PDA (personal digital assistant) for the Christmas holidays.
As reported, Dell opened bidding in June to contract a US$299 Pocket PC-based PDA, with total shipments sized at 1.1 million units. Three finalists - High Tech Computer (HTC), Compal Electronics and Mitac International - eventually withdrew, saying the US$170 unit contract price Dell had asked for left no margins in building the device.
Wistron came out unchallenged, but many handheld makers here predicted that the company will not make the schedule given its limited experience in PDAs and questioned its ability to design a device with specifications similar to Hewlett-Packard's (HP) iPAQ, as requested by Dell, under such a low price.
Wistron is anything but a new entrant, Cheng contended, citing its record of making handheld computers for Acer and Casio of Japan. The company shipped more than 400,000 PDAs in the first half and is poised to soon become Taiwan's leader in handheld design and manufacturing, he said, without specifying how he plans to achieve that goal.
In the interview Cheng also denied rumors that its relationship with Casio is on the rocks as its shipments have allegedly fallen short in timeliness and quality.
Pocket PC shipments to Casio, which then are supplied to a telecom-service customer, began in June and have been running well since then, Cheng said. "[The telecom company] is very satisfied with the quality of our products," he added.
That customer could very possibly be NTT DoMoCo, Japan's largest wireless carrier and a key partner of Casio. DoMoCo will start selling a Pocket PC that combines organizer and phone features with access to its third-generation network, according to a recent report by CNet.com.

http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/NewsSearch.asp?DocID=5632411C4DF1E43148256C0F004B8824&query=De...


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Tech bits (Posted by Jim at 6:10AM)
Dell reveals handheld manufacturer
Ending months of speculation, Dell Computer has finally revealed the identity of its handheld contract manufacturer. "Yes, it's Wistron," Dell's Asia-Pacific spokesman Tom Kehoe told CNETAsia. He declined to provide further details of the agreement. Word of the deal first leaked in July following an intensive bidding process between Taiwanese companies Wistron, Compal, Mitac Technology and High Tech computer. According to media reports, Dell's stringent price requirement resulted in the withdrawal of three out of the four companies.

http://www.gotapex.com/newspro/archive/arc10-2002.php" target="_new">http://drs.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=wistron+mp3+jukebox/v=2/SID=e/l=WS1/R=21/H=0/*-http://www.gotapex.c...
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Wistron promises "new client" PDA shipments in time for Christmas
David Tzeng, Taipei; Chou Hua-hsin, DigiTimes.com [Friday 9 August 2002] []
Wistron will deliver handhelds in time for Christmas for "a new client" as originally planned and "will not lose money" on the contract, said Dixon Cheng, the company president.
The pledge came during an interview with DigiTimes, and the executive, as is the custom of the famously secretive OEM industry here, did not give details about the client other than his promise that Wistron would fulfill the order.
Still, Cheng's precious few words seemed to allude to an earlier DigiTimes report that the PC contract maker, formerly Acer's design and manufacturing unit, has made a deal with Dell Computer to supply its first PDA (personal digital assistant) for the Christmas holidays.
As reported, Dell opened bidding in June to contract a US$299 Pocket PC-based PDA, with total shipments sized at 1.1 million units. Three finalists - High Tech Computer (HTC), Compal Electronics and Mitac International - eventually withdrew, saying the US$170 unit contract price Dell had asked for left no margins in building the device.
Wistron came out unchallenged, but many handheld makers here predicted that the company will not make the schedule given its limited experience in PDAs and questioned its ability to design a device with specifications similar to Hewlett-Packard's (HP) iPAQ, as requested by Dell, under such a low price.
Wistron is anything but a new entrant, Cheng contended, citing its record of making handheld computers for Acer and Casio of Japan. The company shipped more than 400,000 PDAs in the first half and is poised to soon become Taiwan's leader in handheld design and manufacturing, he said, without specifying how he plans to achieve that goal.
In the interview Cheng also denied rumors that its relationship with Casio is on the rocks as its shipments have allegedly fallen short in timeliness and quality.
Pocket PC shipments to Casio, which then are supplied to a telecom-service customer, began in June and have been running well since then, Cheng said. "[The telecom company] is very satisfied with the quality of our products," he added.
That customer could very possibly be NTT DoMoCo, Japan's largest wireless carrier and a key partner of Casio. DoMoCo will start selling a Pocket PC that combines organizer and phone features with access to its third-generation network, according to a recent report by CNet.com.

http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/NewsSearch.asp?DocID=5632411C4DF1E43148256C0F004B8824&query=De...
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excerpt:, Dell's rumored foray into Pocket PC gadgets was partially confirmed recently when the president of Wistron, an OEM manufacturing company, hinted that his company would manufacture more than one million Dell-branded Pocket PC devices before the holiday season


http://www.interex.org/hpwnews/content/hpwn8.24.02.htm