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[ChrisD]

Will Microsoft's New 'Ultra-Mobile' Computer Fly or Flop? Past Experience Offers Some Clues

Although Microsoft recently unveiled an 'ultra-mobile personal computer,' or UMPC, in a move to fill a market niche between laptops and handheld computers, it remains to be seen whether this latest innovation from the software giant will be a hit or flop. While Microsoft is following a "build-it-and-it-will-sell" strategy with the UMPC, technology history is littered with innovative products that never found a market, say experts at Wharton. As Wharton professor of operations and information management Eric K. Clemons puts it: "Build-it-and-it-will-sell strategies are a mixed bag."

Regardless, the initial reaction to the UMPC, announced by Microsoft on March 9, will become clear in just a few months. The first UMPCs -- small computers with 7-inch screens that are designed to occupy a niche for consumers who want a device larger than a handheld yet smaller than a laptop -- are expected in the second quarter ending June 30 from electronics manufacturers such as Samsung, Founder and Asus. UMPCs, priced between $599 and $999, promise to run all the applications that a Microsoft Windows desktop computer does.   (Source: Knowledge@Wharton, InformIT.com)

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