European PDA market shrinks in Q1 - surveys
LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - European sales of handheld
computers and organisers fell in the first quarter, while
Microsoft-powered devices gained ground on personal digital
assistants powered by Palm software, two surveys found on
Thursday.
Some 562,000 handheld computers were sold in the first
quarter, according to research group Gartner Dataquest. Rival
research group IDC, which unlike Gartner also counts wirelessly
connected devices like the Nokia <NOK1V.HE> Communicator and the
Handspring Treo, reported a higher number of 593,000 units.
Both groups saw a sharp drop compared with the first quarter
of 2001, with IDC estimating a 26 percent decline and Gartner a
16 percent fall.
Unit sales fell similarly sharply on the fourth quarter,
which includes the Christmas holidays.
Demand was weak because of low demand from both consumers
and enterprises which scrutinise non-essential expenses. In
addition, the quarter compared unfavourably to a strong three
months a year ago.
Palm's <PALM.O> unit sales fell some 35 percent as it lost
ground to products from rivals that run on Microsoft <MSFT.O>
software, but it remained the dominant vendor of handheld
computers, selling some 220,000 units in the quarter thanks to
aggressive pricing and new colour screen models.
Palm's market share dwindled to well below 40 percent.
Number two Compaq <CPQ.N> nearly doubled its market share
over the twelve months to some 25 percent. It was also a
significant increase from the fourth quarter when it had a
market share of around 19 percent.
Compaq benefited from Microsoft's new operating software
that was launched in the fourth quarter, called Pocket PC 2002,
while its older product continued to sell well. Because Pocket
PC devices sell at a higher average price than Palm-powered
products, Compaq was the market leader in terms of revenues.
"The popularity of the new devices helped to boost Compaq
revenue and give the vendor overall revenue leadership," IDC
said.
Overall, Microsoft Pocket PC-powered devices, including
those of Hewlett-Packard <HWP.N> and Casio <6952.T>, increased
by a little over 21 percent to grab almost 40 percent of the
overall market.
The share of devices that run on Palm's operating system,
including Palm's own products, Handspring's <HAND.O> Visor and
Treo, and Sony's <6758.T> Cleo, declined by some 50 percent, IDC
said.
Growth could pick-up later in the year as more wireless
devices hit the market, often subsidised by wireless telecoms
operators, the research groups said.
((Lucas van Grinsven, European Equities Desk, +44 20 7542 8825,
lucas.grinsven@reuters.com))
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