July 23, 2003
LOS ANGELES, Jul 22, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Worldwide shipments of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and other handheld devices continued to decline, down 10.7 percent year-on-year or 10.2 percent sequentially in the second quarter of 2003, according to a study released Tuesday by IDC, a US hi-tech market research firm.
In the second quarter ending June 30, global shipments of handheld devices were 2.27 million units, due to seasonality and sluggish demand from businesses and consumers alike, according to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView.
Palm Solutions Group maintained its top position in the market while Hewlett-Packard continued to solidify its standing as the number 2 handheld vendor.
"This quarter illustrates the handheld device market's struggle to grow beyond its roots. Personal information management is a killer application for 30 million individuals worldwide, but handheld devices lack an application that will further expand their appeal and differentiate them from technologies targeting similar market segments," said Ross Sealfon, research analyst in IDC's Smart Handheld Devices program.
After a surge in shipments in the Christmas holiday shopping season, the handheld device market declined in each of the past two quarters. In light of other IT priorities and scarce funds, enterprises remain hesitant to invest in handheld device technology.
But the decline in the second quarter was not as steep as the decline experienced in the same quarter one year ago and such a reality, coupled with a brightening macroeconomic outlook, indicates that a more favorable environment for handheld device sales may exist in the second half of the year, said IDC.
Copyright 2003 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
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