re: Smartphones - Communicator 9210 et al
>> Smart Money Is On The Smartphone
Handheld computer sales down, smartphone hots up
Madeleine Acey
FTMarketWatch
Nov. 5, 2001
The dominance that the smartphone has gained in European handheld computing sales could set the stage for some tough competition for global palmtop makers.
Nokia's Communicator 9210 is leading handheld communications/computing devices in Europe, according to a study released on Friday. But it's not sold in the U.S., so in another report to be released on Monday, Palm (is reportedly still leading in global sales.
Competition, for Palm in particular, looks set to hot up next year as many more smartphones hit the squeezed market. Handspring - using Palm's operating system software - is due to launch one, Microsoft and Sendo also have an offering in the works.
But as these players enter the market, the European pioneers will enter a second phase. Nokia and Ericsson (in its joint venture with Sony) are expected to come out with more sophisticated versions for use on faster GPRS (General Packet radio Service) networks. Nokia will also have a U.S.-compatible version of the 9210, called the 9290, out in the first half of 2002.
Pressure
"The 9210 represents a tiny fraction of Nokia's overall phone sales in the [third] quarter, but it does show the potential for smartphones and the pressure handheld vendors will be under as other devices are launched," said Chris Jones, a senior analyst at mobile computing research firm Canalys, which released Friday's European report on third-quarter sales.
Smartphones offer the same or similar functions as handheld computers, plus an Internet-connected mobile phone all in one handset. The 9210 unfolds vertically to reveal a full keyboard and wide colour screen. Others, such as the Ericsson R380 offer a flip-down keypad under which the screen extends, to be operated with a stylus.
Operating Systems
Canalys also said Palm faced competition on the operating system front. The Symbian consortium (involving Ericsson, Nokia, Matsushita, Motorola and Psion now leads in the European market.
Through Nokia and Ericsson smartphones, Symbian now has a 34 percent market share, passing Palm at 29.9 percent. Microsoft's Windows CE has 20.8 percent. Microsoft's pending Pocket PC 2002 software poses further competition.
Many market watchers have waited patiently for the rise of Symbian which seemed to hold so much promise for founder Psion. Psion has since pretty much retired from the consumer handheld computer market.
Canalys showed Psion's sales in that market fell from more than 100,000 units in the third quarter of last year to just over 16,000 in the same period this year. But Symbian is still expected to float at some point.
As Nokia and Ericsson/Sony bring out new Symbian-based products, "next year is probably the one to keep an eye on for Symbian," Buss said. He pointed out there was a lot of secrecy surrounding the development plans of some players and it was likely that some 2002 Symbian-based products were yet to be announced.
Market Slumps
Palm saw a 56 percent drop to 108,000 in third-quarter European sales to resellers. This was mostly due to inventory correction issues, Canalys said.
The whole sector saw sales decline by 16 percent, the research firm said, due to economic problems. But sales for the first three quarters of the year were still 33 percent up on the same period in 2000.
However Buss pointed out that the early adopter market "is virtually saturated". He said Compaq also suffered from over-ordering by resellers.
"A lot of long-time Palm users are waiting for something more than the current range offers before they upgrade," Buss added. "Many looking at the Pocket PC in Q3 were quite happy to wait and see what the Pocket PC 2002 launch brought."
As well as appealing to business buyers, the Nokia offered a significant upgrade to Nokia 9110 users and Psion customers (who wanted to stay with the Symbian operating system), he said. It also appealed to Nokia phone users wanting more functions without having to buy two devices, he added.
Worldwide, Gartner Dataquest reportedly found that Palm's third-quarter shipments fell by 136,000 to 754,000 units. Compaq slumped to 185,000 from 450,000.
"Running up to Christmas we should see a small up tick," Buss said. <<
- Eric - |
