Gartner Releases Global PDA Report
|
Alfredo Padilla Published on May 23, 2007 Comment on this |
|
|
|
|
Gartner Inc. today released a report outlining the global PDA market in the first quarter of 2007. According to the report growth in the market was driven by Windows Mobile devices, which grew by 64 percent and drove the 39.7 percent growth in the market overall. According to Todd Kort “Microsoft Windows Mobile licensees accounted for nearly 3.2 million PDA shipments in the first quarter of 2007, or more than 60 percent of all PDA shipments in the quarter,”. RIM was the leading manufacturer of PDA's, with 18.1 percent of the overall market.According to Gartner PDA's are:
"Gartner Dataquest defines a PDA as a data-centric handheld computer weighing less than 1 pound that is primarily designed for use with both hands. These devices use an open-market OS supported by third-party applications that can be added into the device by end users. They offer instant-on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC. A PDA may offer WAN support for voice, but these are data-first, voice-second devices."This definition seems to be inconsistent, with devices like the Blackberry 8700 series phones included but Palm Treo phones categorized as "smartphones" instead. Nokia remained the global leader in combined PDA and Smartphone shipments. Palm, whose Treo devices are categorized as smartphones rather than PDA's, dropped out of the top five PDA vendors.
Windows CE, the foundation of Windows Mobile devices, saw 64.4 percent growth in total shipments over the same quarter last year. Blackberry OS shipments remained steady while Palm OS devices saw a decrease of 35.7 percent. Symbian devices also saw significant growth in shipments at 118 percent, however such devices captured only 5.6 percent of the PDA market. Most Symbian devices shipped globally are classified as "smartphones" by Gartner.
More information is available here.
|
|
|