PageMart Wireless Inc. reported the Synapse Pager Card production delays have been worked out and shipments are underway in the volume expected.
PageMart began shipping units in July, but reported in its third-quarter earnings release that “significant manufacturing problems” of the Synapse card were affecting its quarterly net adds.
The Synapse card was created by Motorola Inc., in conjunction with PageMart and 3Com Corp. Using the card, Pilot, PalmPilot and IBM WorkPad personal digital assistants can receive pages and e-mail and Web-based messages of up to 300 characters, over PageMart’s network. PageMart said demand for such functionality was high among the almost 2 million PalmPilot users.
Donna Regenbaum, vice president of marketing at PageMart, said the delays were “manufacturing start-up bumps … the kind of problems you could potentially run into with any new product.”
PageMart said it now is shipping to its several retailers with no delays coming from Motorola. “We’re shipping and we’re out in retail,” said Regenbaum.
She wouldn’t disclose the number of Synapse units sold to date, but said demand is high.
The Synapse card is available nationwide in retail outlets like Office Depot, J&R Music and Computer World, The Wiz, Best Buy and the Good Guys!, as well as through direct sales channels of both PageMart and 3Com.
