Sierra Gives Up on the Voq
Is anyone surprised to see Sierra Wireless's decision to discontinue its Voq smart phone business after less than two years? Voq was a misguided and flawed strategic move from the very start as Sierra was entering an already ultra-competitive market dominated by players such as Research in Motion. Perhaps the worst part of the Voq initiative was the belief it cost Sierra an important contract with PalmOne, which was using Sierra's wireless modules in the Treo 600. When the next generation Treo was launched, PalmOne went with another supplier. Sierra CEO David Sutcliffe said he has no qualms about Voq, which featured a phone and PDA. “I don’t have regrets over taking a risk and giving it our best shot and falling short. Frankly, we do that every day in business…if you don’t take the risks you cannot succeed,” he told Dow Jones. To be blunt, it's okay to “take risks” and give it your “best shot” but Voq was doomed from its inception. Now, it's left to be seen whether Sierra has a future given wireless access cards could easily become a standard part of laptop computers as Wi-Fi and Wi-Max become more widespread.
