Daily Research News Online no. 2893

Decline in PDA Sales

February 2 2004

Worldwide shipments of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) fell 5.3% in 2003 to 11.5m units, according to preliminary results from technology consultants Gartner, Inc. The decline may reflect the impact of smartphones and enhanced mobile phones.

On a regional basis, Asia/Pacific contributed to much of the worldwide decline in PDA sales, with shipments down 30% in 2003. Sales in Japan dropped 25% while in Western Europe they increased by 12%.

The success of specific manufacturers varies greatly however. Research in Motion (RIM) sold nearly as many units in the fourth quarter of 2003 (259,000) as in the whole of 2002 - many of them upgrades of older models. Gartner analysts said Hewlett-Packard was the most aggressive vendor in the second half of the year, releasing seven new PDA models priced from $199 to $599.

Preliminary Worldwide PDA Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2003 (Units)

Company	2003 Shipments	2003 Market Share (%)	2002 Shipments	2002 Market Share (%)	Growth (%)

palmOne	4,164,790	36.4	5,144,890	42.5	-19.0
Hewlett-Packard	2,274,835	19.9	1,621,317	13.4	40.3
Sony	1,401,090	12.2	1,328,555	11.0	5.5
Research in Motion	603,175	5.3	272,450	2.3	121.4
Dell	582,500	5.1	77,000	0.6	656.5
Toshiba	341,669	3.0	439,153	3.6	-22.2
Others	2,087,718	18.2	3,210,394	26.5	-35.0
Total	11,455,777	100.0	12,093,759	100.0	-5.3

Note: Totals include cellular PDAs such as RIM BlackBerry 7230, butnot smartphones. palmOne results include Handspring shipments.Source: Gartner Dataquest (January 2004)

In the US market, palmOne was still the No. 1 vendor in terms of shipments, but its market share slipped from more than half 43.3%.

Preliminary U.S. PDA Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2003 (Units)

Company	2003 Shipments	2003 Market Share (%)	2002 Shipments	2002 Market Share (%)	Growth (%)

palmOne	2,537,300	43.4	3,265,000	54.8	-22.3
Hewlett-Packard	887,500	15.2	677,828	11.4	30.9
Sony	866,500	14.8	859,000	14.4	0.9
Research in Motion	435,500	7.5	75,000	1.3	480.7
Dell	433,000	7.4	196,000	3.3	120.9
Toshiba	178,361	3.1	236,989	4.0	-24.7
Others	504,530	8.6	653,536	11.0	-22.8
Total	5,842,691	100.0	5,963,353	100.0	-2.0

Note: Totals include cellular PDAs such as RIM BlackBerry 7230, but not smartphones. palmOne results include Handspring shipments.Source: Gartner Dataquest (January 2004)

Todd Kort, principal analyst in Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide group, says that throughout 2004 smartphones will continue to have a negative impact on the low end of the PDA market - 'many individual users will find the personal information management (PIM) and e-mail capabilities of smartphones acceptable... These users will tend to become less interested in low-end PDAs. Smartphones will become more important in the enterprise market in 2005, at which point we expect to see increasing erosion of the Microsoft side of the market'.

The weakening dollar is forcing prices up in the key US market, says Kort, because most PDAs and their components are manufactured in Asian markets, particularly Taiwan. Gartner therefore expects 'good results in Europe, but mediocre sales in North America in 2004'.

The company will be discussing the impact of wireless technologies during the Gartner Wireless and Mobile Summit at the Chicago Downtown Marriott, March 8-10 - additional information is available at www.gartner.com/us/wireless

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.