According to Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette, Motorola Atrix and Xoom sales “have been disappointing.”
While shipments remain decent, sell-through of the devices are very low, with the Atrix sales specifically being “well below forecast.”
The analyst says the Atrix has been hurt by the cheap prices of the Apple 3GS ($49) and the HTC Inspire ($99). The Atrix, on the other hand, sells for $200 with contract.
Downgrading the company’s revenue forecast from $13.7 billion to $12.2 billion, Faucette also warned investors that the company will need to “quickly adjust and refresh its product portfolio” if it wishes to remain relevant.
Neither Motorola nor market leader Apple have revealed the sales figures on their latest tablets, yet.
Result for: investor
After being shown off first at CES and given an April release date, Plastic Logic delayed their e-reader in March and then again in June frustrating would-be owners who pre-ordered as early as February.
In late June, the company cancelled all pre-orders, making it very clear that the company was in trouble.
Today, Plastic Logic has announced that they are completely canceling all plans for the Que, due to increased competition from Apple, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
“This was a hard decision, but is the best one for our company, our investors and our customers,” said Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta of the decision.
“We recognize the market has dramatically changed, and with the product delays we have experienced, it no longer makes sense for us to move forward with our first generation electronic reading product.”
Differentiating the QUE from other e-reader was the fact it was aimed at the businessman demographic. The device would have retailed for $650 for the 4GB/Wi-Fi model and $800 for the 8GB/Wi-Fi/3G version. The Que featured a large 10.7-inch screen, and had built-in support for Microsoft Office documents as well as PDFs.
Result for: investor
Amazon has announced it will purchase the popular site Woot.com, the site that became famous for selling just one item at a time, usually at a large discount from its normal prices.
Retailers use sites like Woot to either dump excess inventory or introduce new customers to their brand of products.
Consumers, on the other hand, get the thrill of racing other would-be buyers for a sharply discounted item.
Woot launched in 2004 and now has 2.75 million registered users. The site sells all types of items, but mostly electronics. For example, today’s Woot item is the Apple iPod Nano 8GB, 5th Generation , selling for $99 USD, a big discount from even Amazon, which has the same item listed at $125.
Amazon was Woot’s only outside investor, when they bought a piece in 2006.
The NYTimes explains that Woot is also a wholesale distributor, which distributes to Target, Amazon, and others.
