Psion invented the PDA — then Palm and Microsoft killed it

Psion was founded in London in 1980 by David Potter, a South African physicist. It launched the Psion Organiser in 1984, widely considered the world's first handheld computer. The Series 3, launched in 1993, was a bestselling clamshell PDA with a full keyboard, selling hundreds of thousands of units. Psion's EPOC operating system was ahead of its time and later became the foundation of Symbian, the dominant smartphone OS before iOS and Android.

By the late 1990s, Psion faced two threats it could not match. Palm's Pilot was cheaper, simpler, and synced effortlessly with desktop computers. Microsoft's Windows CE was backed by the full resources of the world's largest software company, and device makers flocked to the platform. Psion's devices were more capable but more expensive and less compatible. In 1998, the company spun off Symbian as a joint venture with Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola, removing 130 key staff from its own product development.

In 2001, Motorola pulled out of the joint Odin project to build an ARM-based PDA-phone — the final blow for Psion's consumer business. The company withdrew from the consumer PDA market entirely, shedding 250 staff and writing off £40 million. It acquired Canadian rugged-device maker Teklogix and shifted to industrial handhelds, but was itself acquired by Motorola Solutions in 2012 for $200 million. The British company that invented the PDA had been consumed by the market it created.