Sony Unexpectedly Exits US PDA Market

The PDA market just got a little less exciting in the United States, with Sony announcing that it will no longer develop or sell its popular CLIE PDAs for the foreseeable future. The Palm OS-based PDAs were some of the more popular models in the market, but the company apparently felt that steadily declining sales were the harbinger of future failures. Indeed, the United States has seen 2 years of relativity flat overall handheld sales. Sony, however, will continue to sell CLIE devices in Japan. Sony's departure from the PDA market isn't a total withdrawal from the mobile market: The company is committed to continuing development and sales of its Sony and Sony Ericsson cell phones as well as the upcoming PlayStation Portable (PSP) game system. As cell phones get smarter, expect consolidation and change in the PDA market to continue. Still, this news is a shocker