Ultramobile PC maker OQO seeking buyer
Struggling to stay afloat during the recession, ultramobile PC maker OQO is seeking buyers, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday.
OQO, which is based in San Francisco, is well-known for its innovative PC designs and in the past has received accolades for its products. However, its offerings have struggled to find buyers because of the high prices.
Rumors of OQO seeking a buy-out was first confirmed by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
The company is having cash problems and views a buy-out as the best way to solve its troubles and make OQO more competitive, according to the news report.
A company spokeswoman confirmed details in the report, but declined further comment.
Rumors of OQO being on the block spread after a poster on the enthusiast site Oqotalk.com suggested the company was having financial difficulties.
"OQO is attempting to sell the company. It lacks the funds to keep going, cash is tight and work hours have been reduced," said a poster named Picasso, listed as a moderator in the OQOtalk forums.
The rumors gained steam after a U.K. retailer reportedly pulled an upcoming OQO product off shelves "due to uncertainties to stock availability" of the upcoming Model 2+ ultramobile PC, according to posting on JkOnTheRun blog.
OQO in January announced the Model 2+ design, which can deliver a full PC performance in a tiny footprint. The computer includes an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen and weighs only 1 pound (0.45 kilograms). The product was received with considerable fanfare at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
The company's cash shortage could delay the delivery of Model 2+, said Bob Rosin, OQO's senior vice president of sales and marketing told with The Wall Street Journal.
But posters on the OQOTalk have doubts about the product ever reaching the market.
"I'm sorry to say this, but the [Model] 2+ might be the last OQO we see made. I don't even think we will see it." Picasso wrote.
IDG News Service
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the 2+ would not save them....
The basic flaw is to believe that people would want to do the kinds of work they do with a full laptop using your thumbs? That basic assumption is what has doomed OOQ since they started years ago. Updating anything in the computer without addressing that basic key assumption which is wrong will never create any demand.People would be willing to sacrafice and use a smaller screen, not have all of the frills of large laptop, but even anticipating a tighter position with your two hands to type, people would never want to use a two fingered approach to performing PC work. They should have used a traditional handhelds clamshell design.
Those handhelds back in the 1990's were the perfect size to carry and use. Their only flaw was nobody at that time could fit a full PC into that small cavity. Now technology can enable that but so far all of the computer companies have forgotton about the basic way we want to use a computer.
I agree...
I never found the OQO very easy to use. It was a bit noisey, ran a bit hot, and after thinking about it, yes, the keyboard is the real deal breaker for me. Maybe someone will buy them and turn the next version into a keyboard based clamshell!OQO the wrong size to me
Just like Flipstart the OQO while having the innovative technology to make a PC pocket size forgot about how everyone wants to use a PC. Nobody wants a thumb keyboard, those were band aid solution to the Palm size PDA's. OQO must have techno geek managers as it should have been clear that their choice for a product size is all wrong.To me the management is to blame as they did not see the immediate lack of interest in a thumb PC and did not innovate to fix it.