OQO calling it quits, working on deal to keep the band together

By on May 22, 2009 at 1:40 PM
News May 22, 2009

OQO UMPC owners, it’s official: You now own a collector’s item. After running into OQO SVP of sales and marketing Bob Rosin, GottaBeMobile is reporting that the company can no longer afford to support its products in any capacity, let alone build new units. From Rosin:

We are sad to report that due to financial constraints, OQO is not able to offer repair and service support at this time. We are deeply sorry that despite our best intentions, we are unable to provide continued support for our faithful customers. Please accept our sincerest apologies.

Rosin went on to say that OQO is currently working on a deal with a parts vendor that might keep its team and — perhaps more importantly for OQO fans — its technology alive to some extent. For the time being however, the only certainties are that OQO is done building and supporting UMPCs, and its stock is depleted so it’s done selling them as well.

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  • http://google.ca Peter

    well that sucks I for one am a fan of OQO and looking forward to OQO 2, but i’m now a proud owner of a collectors item

  • Kevin

    If their product wasn’t so expensive people would have bought them. Mobile devices/OS’s are advancing at such a fast rate you cant justify carrying or paying for such a device….especially if it doesn’t have a phone.

  • Jason Bourne

    You got hosed Peter…you got hosed.

    Nice glass half full mentality tho. lol

  • Jeremiah

    I guess the netbook really nailed the coffin on the UMPC. While I always did want one, it never made sense to sense to spend ~$1500 on a limited-functionality computer that had a small screen and keyboard.

    While I’m sad for OQO, it really didn’t make sense for them to continue as the netbook does what they do at a fraction of the cost.

  • http://www.allthatsfresh.com Cannon

    I’m like you Jeremiah. I really wanted an OQO but they were so freaking expensive for average consumers it’s no wonder they went out of business. Now the question is will the remaining ones go up in price since they really are collectors items or down in price since no one really wants one.

  • Roger A

    What was OQO?

  • http://Davidthande.blogspot.com DavidThande

    ^^ I’m with Roger this is the first time ever heard of it, lol. It must been such a marginal market? Like those $1700 designer Motorolas.

  • Anon

    Basically a laptop crammed into something between an internet tablet (like Nokia N810) and a small netbbok for around $1000+. The price was cost prohibitive to the public, but these ultra mobiles have a following regardless.

  • HokiePS7

    I think Tony was using one in “24″ a few episodes back. He damaged it so they couldn’t pull data off it. My first thought was “they’re screwed trying to fix that”. Sorta made me laugh because they hype up all the new Cisco tech on the show.

  • Al

    To me it seems so obvious as it does not have a touch type keyboard. They copied the old HP 200lx design and should have changed it to be more like the HP Jornada 720 series shapes when it had such weak sales. They had cool technolog to make a full PC the smallest size but while we want computer ultra mobile they still have to be functional. Most would agree trying to type a report and do other full Windows work with your thumbs IS NOT very functional. They had weak sales from day one and never addressed this key flaw.

    It was not the price but the lack of a real keyboard.

  • http://www.securix.net Securix

    I remember Radio Shack selling the Acer Aspire One for $99 – the model that had the AT&T WWAN card in it – as long as you agreed to the 2 year contract. How can you compete with that?

    You can buy 5 average netbooks for the price of one OQO.

    Regardless, these were really nice machines. The planned Model 2+ with the OLED screen (announced at CES 2009) looked like a real gem, and I think they had lowered the base price to $999 – still too much for an Atom-based gadget – but I woulda bought one. Too bad it won’t see the light of day.

    Maybe ASUS, MSI, Fujitsu or another UMPC/MID manufacturer could pick up the pieces of the company, retool manufacturing and revive the brand.

  • KANG Ghee Keong

    Amazingly, this is one machine I waited for, until it went defunct!

    And I was impressed from the beginning, with price as the only prohibition. Looks like the Ps of marketing applies here very well.

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