Date:03/11/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/11/03/stories/2005110301700400.htm

Back Global PDA shipments rise 21 pc in June-Sept: Gartner

Our Bureau

Coimbatore , Nov. 2

A SURVEY conducted by Gartner Inc,provider of research and analysis on IT industry, shows that the global PDA (personal digital assistant) shipments have risen 21 per cent in the June-September quarter.

Total PDA shipments during this period touched 3.45 million units. At the current pace, Gartner predicts the shipment to reach 15 million by December, surpassing the 2001 record of 13.2 million units.

The Principal Analyst in Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide Group, Mr Todd Kort, observed that the rapid spread of wireless e-mail and use of GPS-enabled PDAs (which offer most of the functionality of dedicated car navigation systems at a fraction of the cost) was propelling the PDA market to record growth.

According to him, the growth was noticeable in Europe, which was catching up with North America in terms of usage of PDAs in vertical markets and cellular PDAs.

Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry shipments at 8.62 lakh units witnessed a 52.6 per cent growth this quarter, with RIM accounting for about half of the worldwide growth from one year ago. However, Blackberry PDA shipments' sequential growth is said to be less than three per cent as RIM's product mix started to shift towards its smart phones, which now account for an estimated 18 per cent of RIM shipments.

H-P's iPAQ shipments declined 20.2 per cent. PalmOne's PDA shipments declined 36 per cent. The Sidekick II and Pocket PC Phone Edition devices pushed T-Mobile to the fourth place, with 305.5 per cent growth.