Geeks falling out of love with PDAs

Global PDA shipments fell 18.2 per cent year on year in the last quarter of 2005

Despite a seasonal boost over Christmas global shipments of PDAs decreased by 18.2 per cent year on year in the last quarter of 2005, IDC has reported.

Shipments of handheld devices reached 7.5 million in 2005, a 16.7 per cent decrease from the 9.1 million units shipped in 2004.

"Vendors with a global footprint still lead the worldwide market, but vendors with a multi-region or even a single-region focus have increasingly earned top five worldwide status with their focused shipment distribution," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst at IDC's Mobile Markets group.

"The departure of other worldwide vendors has opened the door for smaller vendors to improve their position within the market.

"During the course of the year, several smaller vendors remained within striking distance of beating each other for the number four or five position, and even posed a challenge to some of the worldwide vendors."

IDC's latest Worldwide Handheld QView reported that the market has been under "immense pressure" from the rise in shipments of converged mobile devices that combine the traditional functionality of a handheld device with a mobile phone.

However, Llamas believes that vendors still remain committed to the handheld market. "New devices continue to come out from the market leaders aimed at different user types and offered at different price points," he said.

"With the addition of GPS solutions, multimedia capability and Wi-Fi connectivity, handhelds offer additional value beyond just personal information management."

Palm maintained its position as the worldwide leader in the handheld device market. The firm grew its shipments 109.7 per cent from the last quarter, but also experienced a 13.2 per cent decline from the same quarter a year ago.

With 45.6 per cent market share, Palm more than doubled the second-place vendor, HP.

HP consolidated its position as the clear number two vendor of handheld devices for the quarter, claiming 20.8 per cent market share.

Although this marked yet another positive sequential increase for HP, its shipments decreased 33.1 per cent year over year, the largest decrease among the top five vendors.

Dell climbed one spot into the number three position with eight per cent worldwide market share. With several models reaching end of life at the beginning of the quarter, the company experienced strong fourth-quarter demand with the X51 series.

After enjoying two quarters in the number three spot, Acer's worldwide shipment volumes decreased 33.1 per cent sequentially, the only vendor among the top five to experience a sequential decline.