Company History Media Centre News Press Releases
Executive Team Pocketop in Europe


News
Unplugging into a mobile market


July 26, 2002
Mark Evans

Canadian upstart startup, Pocketop Computer Corp., is shifting focus from product to sales as it develops its wireless keyboard for handheld devices

With a few exceptions, Canadians are not good at developing successful consumer electronics.

It is a bit of mystery given the country's abundant high-tech talent and entrepreneurship that has produced a slew of successful software and telecommunication equipment makers.

Vancouver-based Pocketop Computer Corp. wants to change this perception with the launch of Wireless Link, a new keyboard designed for handheld devices. The upstart company aims to make typing with your thumbs on tiny keyboards or scrawling Egyptian-like hieroglyphics on your handheld a thing of the past.

Pocketop has plenty of confidence but it faces an uphill battle. One of the biggest is attracting enough capital to develop and market its wireless keyboard against better-financed rivals in the U.S. and Asia. Without financial muscle, the company may end up a footnote even if it has the best product in the market.

The company got some of the money it needs when Toronto-based Tullaree Capital Inc. acquired a 38% stake in May for $2.5-million. Tullaree also bought an additional 19% from private investors for $1-million. This was a huge price for Pocketop to pay but it reflects the sweetheart terms that investors can now demand given the slumping high-tech market.

Joseph van Bastelaar, Tullaree's president and chief executive officer, said the venture capitalist was willing to invest in Pocketop because there is a growing belief that handheld devices will replace the laptop computer, particularly among road warriors. It helped that Pocketop already had a product developed, manufacturing agreements and retail distribution.

They did it on a shoestring budget with friends and family investment," Mr. van Bastelaar said. "Normally in retail, in the first two years, you don't make profit, but they will be profitable from day one. It is an enormous growth market so we feel we will get a good bang for the buck.

A key part of Pocketop's potential success rests with Bill Wrixon, who was hired 20 months ago to lead the company's evolution from product development to sales. A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Wrixon is hoping to replicate the success of his last venture, ClearlyContact.com -- an online retailer of contact lenses that was acquired during the dot-com boom.

Mr. Wrixon said that after selling Clearly Contacts, he was interested in two high-tech sectors: data storage and mobile computing. He joined Pocketop because the fast-growing mobile computing market "felt like the Wild West," and that the idea of a wireless keyboard was compelling.

Pocketop's optimism is backed by a couple of studies forecasting the handheld market is poised to take off. Gartner, for example, estimates that the number of personal digital assistant shipments will rise 18% in 2002 to 15.5 million, while Goldman Sachs believes that handheld devices will replace laptops among corporate users because there is a higher return on investment and lower cost of total ownership.

As the number of handheld devices grows, Mr. Wrixon said that usability will be a key issue, and a wireless keyboard will be a "killer app." One of the reasons that Pocketop adopted wireless technology is it lets the keyboard work with a wide variety of devices. "We decided to take a hardware problem and turn it into a software problem," he said.

While it is left to be seen whether the $159 keyboard will be a hit with consumers, there is no doubt it is an eye-catcher. When the keyboard is folded, it is the same size as a Palm - allowing the user to carry it within a pocket attached to their handheld device. Pocketop's software also lets the user rotate the screen from horizontal to vertical, making it easier to input data.

The keyboard is fairly usable, although it takes some adjustment for people who use a full size keyboard. Another area that Pocketop can improve upon is better organization/packaging of accessories. Since there are many ways to use the keyboard, there are different parts that have to be carried and it would seem pretty easy to lose some of them along the way. If Pocketop does become a commercial success, it will join Research in Motion Ltd., Matrox Graphics Inc. and ATI Technologies Inc. among the small band of Canadian companies to thrive selling consumer electronics. Mr. Wrixon said, however, that there is no reason why Canadian technology can't do well in the consumer market.




BIll Wrixon, right, president and chief executive officer, and David Ferguson, vice-president marketing and sales of Pocketop Computer Corp. based in Vancouver. Pocketop is optimistic that the handheld market is poised to take off.


Copyright ©2002 Pocketop Inc. All Rights Reserved