Worldwide shipments of personal digital assistants jumped 32 percent in the second quarter, according to research and consulting firm Gartner, reaching a total of 3.6 million units in the second quarter. The firm said BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. maintained its No. 1 position in the market, ahead of Palm Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nokia Corp.
“The steady growth in the PDA market can be attributed to a combination of factors,” said Todd Kort, principal analyst in Gartner’s Computing Platforms Worldwide group. “Wireless PDAs are increasingly seen as an adjunct or alternative to notebook computers, while favorable exchange rates have enabled more Europeans to purchase PDAs at an attractive price. These factors have aided in the recovery of the slumping PDA market of 2002-2004.”
Gartner said RIM roared with 23.2 percent of the market. Palm came in second with 17.8 percent, while HP scored 12.5 percent and Nokia had 7.6 percent. Gartner said Windows CE was the leading operating system with 45.7 percent of the market, followed by RIM’s Java-based OS, the Palm OS and the Symbian platform.
Gartner does not tally so-called smart phones in its numbers. Thus, shipments of Palm’s Treo 650 and RIM’s BlackBerry 7100 are excluded, but HP’s iPAQ 6315 and Nokia’s 9300 device are counted.
“Gartner defines a PDA as a data-centric handheld computer weighing less than 1 pound that is primarily designed for use with both hands,” the firm wrote. “These devices use an open market operating system 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 (wide area network) support for voice, but these are data-first, voice-second devices.”
Gartner’s narrow definition differs from that of many others in the market. Most research firms lump high-end wireless devices into one category.
