GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says Worldwide Handheld Market
Grew 61 Percent in 1998; Dataquest Predicts 99 Conference to Examine
Future of Mobile Computing - BW, 08:35 a.m. Feb 08, 1999 Eastern
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 1999--As the mobile computing
market moves towards smaller, lighter products, handheld devices are experiencing
explosive growth, with worldwide handheld shipments surpassing 3.9 million units, a
61.4 percent increase over 1997 shipments, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of
Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT). 3Com's Palm Computing Division
continues to lead the industry, as its shipments reached 1.6 million
units in 1998.
"3Com's growth is particularly impressive in that the vast majority
of their sales were to new users, almost doubling the installed base
over 1997 levels," said Scott Miller, principal analyst for
Dataquest's Mobile Computing Worldwide program. "This growing base
of users makes the PalmOS platform attractive to developers as well
as sets the stage for further platform expansion."
Sharp, the No. 2 handheld vendor in 1998 (see Table 1), enjoyed broad success from
multiple product lines. Psion's strength was in Europe because 76 percent of the
company's shipments were from the region.Table 1
Preliminary Worldwide Handheld Computer Unit Shipment Estimates for 1998
(Thousands of Units)
1997 1997 Market 1998 1998 Market Growth
Company Shipments Share (%) Shipments Share (%) (%)
3Com 1,018 41.2 1,600 40.1 57.1
Sharp 495 20.0 828 20.8 67.4
Psion 397 16.1 519 13.0 30.9
Hewlett-Packard 241 9.7 270 6.8 12.1
Philips Mobile 71 2.9 177 4.4 150.4
NEC 15 0.6 170 4.3 1,004.5
Others 234 9.4 424 10.6 80.9
Total 2,471 100.0 3,988 100.0 61.4 Source: Dataquest (February 1999)
Hewlett-Packard posted the slowest growth among the top vendors, but Dataquest
analysts said 1998 was a transition year for the company. "Hewlett-Packard is moving
from its traditional DOS-based HPC products to new Windows CE models," Mr.
Miller said. "The company shipped more Windows CE products than anyone in 1998,
and we expect significantly higher growth rates in 1999 as shipments begin to track
with Windows CE growth."
The Palm operating system continued to dominate the handheld segment, as it
accounted for 41 percent of1998 handheld shipments. Windows CE was the No. 2
operating system in the handheld market with 25 percent of the market, followed by
EPOC32, which reached 13 percent of the market.
Dataquest analysts will examine the future of the mobile computing market during the
upcoming GartnerGroup's Dataquest Predicts 99 Conference, to be held March 22-24
at the San Diego Hyatt. Dataquest analysts will provide their outlook for the
high-technology industry. GartnerGroup's Spring Symposium/ITxpo 99 will be held
concurrently at the San Diego Convention Center. Members of the press can register for
the conference by contacting Josh Lefkowitz at 212-696-2000, or at
jlefkowitz@tsipr.com. Additional information on the event is available on the
GartnerGroup Web site at gartner.com.
Additional information on the handheld market is available by subscribing to
Dataquest's Mobile Computing Worldwide program. The program focuses on mobile
computing hardware, but does discuss software on a qualitative basis in terms of how
these changes impact mobile computing hardware. More information on this program is
available on Dataquest's Web site at
dataquest.com.
To purchase the report or subscribe to this program, please call 800-419-DATA or
408-468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent
research reports, and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at
dataquest.com.
GartnerGroup's Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology
and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer
systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and
services sectors of the global information technology industry.
As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide
range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement,
research, decision support, analysis, and consulting. Founded in 1979, with
headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community
serving Fortune 1000 clients from 80 locations worldwide. Additional information
about the company is available on the Internet a gartner.com.
Copyright 1999, Business Wire
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