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.