Palm Maintains Worldwide Lead in Handheld Shipments

Posted By: Ed Thursday, July 25, 2002 4:21:45 PM

In the second quarter of this year, Palm Inc. held on to its dominate lead of the worldwide handheld market with a 32.4% share, according to IDC. It shipped 846 thousand units during the quarter. This, however, was down from the previous quarter. A distant second was Hewlett-Packard, which recently combined with Compaq, with 18.6% and 485 thousand units shipped. Sony was in third place with roughly 10% of the market and 250 thousand handhelds shipped. Handspring shipments dropped to just 6.5% of the world market and fourth place because IDC doesn't count smartphones in this category and therefore excludes most of the Treo line.

In fifth place is Hi-Tech Wealth, which sells Pocket PC devices only in China. After that is Sharp with 4.3%, Toshiba with 3.8% and RIM with 3.4%.

Palm also saw a serious drop in units shipped compared with the previous quarter, when it shipped 1.27 million handhelds. H-P increased marginally, Sony remained the same and Handspring, as mentioned earlier, dropped almost by half.

Overall, the number of handhelds shipped worldwide decreased over 16% last quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2002. Many people are postponing their purchases waiting for new devices with Palm OS 5 coming this fall and the slowing world economy is hurting sales, too.

These figures are for the number of handhelds shipped during the second quarter of 2002. It counts handhelds shipped to retailers and directly to customers.

In the U.S.
Palm holds an even larger lead in the U.S. It had a 42.1% share of that market, with 558 thousand units shipped. HP was in second with 17.2% of the market and 228 thousand units shipped. Sony was third with 175 thousand units shipped for 13.2% of the market. Handspring was fourth with 10.1% and 134 thousand units. RIM rounded out the top five with 6.1% of the market on shipments of 80 thousand units.

However, Palm saw its lead slip in the United States, too. In the first quarter of this year, it shipped 811 thousand units so the second quarter's 558 thousand units was a big drop. .HP increased slightly while Sony went down a bit. Again, Handspring dropped significantly because sales of the Treo smartphones weren't included.

The whole U.S. handheld market is down for the quarter, as well. In the second quarter, 1.3 million handhelds were shipped to the U.S., down from 1.7 million in the first quarter.

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Putting the squeeze on Palm...

Foo Fighter @ 7/25/2002 4:58:36 PM #
It's quite sobering to see PocketPC fill the number 2 spot. Especially considering the position it started from. This doesn't exactly instill confidence in me. Palm needs to offer more competitive products, and stop rehashing its aging product line. OS5 based ARMware should give them the boost they need, and perhaps even turn the tables on Redmond. But the world won't stand by and forever, as poor sales indicate. Bring on the new products! ^_^

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
RobZombie @ 7/25/2002 5:12:11 PM #
I'm not worried. If HP hadn't bought Compaq both their percentages would have been below 10%. They sell expensive handhelds and those are a niche market. It will be interesting to see the market change when OSv5 hits and the gap between the high end PalmOS and PPC models closes up. The only niche PPC has is the high-end which the PalmOS hasn't been very competetive in. OSv5, with all those multimedia features, will change that. Especially if Motorola's prediction comes true and battery life of OSv5 handhelds is twice that of PPC ones. This fall and winter could be very hard on HP's handheld sales.
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
Foo Fighter @ 7/25/2002 5:27:23 PM #
> "If HP hadn't bought Compaq both their percentages would have been below 10%."

Individually, yes. But collectively the PPC market is at, or above, 20%. Still just a niche segment, but a respectable nice nonetheless.

> "It will be interesting to see the market change when OSv5 hits and the gap between the high end PalmOS and PPC models closes up."

Multimedia and hi-res color displays are really what set PPC apart from PalmOS. That advantage is about to erode. This fight may very well come down to whom can deliver these features BETTER. If Palm wins on battery and performance, that will be a serious blow to Microsoft.

The PDA market is going to heat up within the next 60 days. :-)


RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
sandbuck @ 7/25/2002 6:00:20 PM #
The Q2 numbers are not an ideal barometer for Palm OS's future, considering the OS5 timeline, the ecomomy and the HPaq merger. I am more interested in the outlook after the OS5 devices have been in the retail pipeline for a solid quarter.

My immediate concern is for Palm and the rumored Oslo. What part of Palm's customer base is it supposed to appeal to? Does it really fit any of the existing niches in the Palm OS market?

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 6:28:32 PM #
I just bought the Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 (Linux based, basically the same hardware as most of the Pocket PC's) and after a week with this unit, I really think Palm is in trouble. This unit is so much better than my M505 its incredible, and cost less!!! I am sure the experience is similar to the Pocket PC devices, since the hardware and bundled software is so similar.

It definitely doesn't have the battery life of Palm, but in the real world, I won't have it away from the charger long enough for it to ever run down. + it has a replaceable battery, so the unit won't be a worthless chunk of plastic if the battery should ever die or lose strength (which rechargeables do after a couple of years).

I think the Palm OS interface is getting old, and I am really disappointed to see that the "next generation" Palm does almost nothing to improve this. I had hoped for a true next generation unit from Palm; it looks like all they are delivering is the same thing, only faster.

Zaurus? Don't make me laugh!
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 7:00:50 PM #
>> This unit is so much better than my M505 its
>> incredible, and cost less!!!

The Zaurus SL-5500 costs $450, more than almost all Palm OS handhelds, and much more than a m505. There are also about 7 applications it can run. This is why Sharp has such a tiny percentage of PDA sales.

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 7:07:33 PM #
I also don't like the fact Palms doesn't have a replacable battery.


RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 7:13:31 PM #
making a replacable battery add cost. The casing design gets a lot more complicated.
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 8:29:40 PM #
Multimedia and hi-res color displays are really what set PPC apart from PalmOS

I guess you haven't checked out Sony's NR-70V. I will stack that PDA with any PocketPC device in terms of color display and multimedia. In fact, you can't take any pictures with PocketPC devices as far as I can tell. The only thing PocketPC does better than Palm is Pop e-mail implementation.

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 10:16:19 PM #
various multimedia file being played natively without conversion. That's what people usually talk about multimedia. Current Dragonball just doesn't have enough power to play those type of file, that's why the need for desktop file conversion.
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 11:02:08 PM #
Thanks for pointing that out.
But it adds so much convienience when you
travel. And that is what PDA supposed to be:
YOu can carry it anywhere anytime.


RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 12:22:47 AM #
My NR-70 doesn't hold a candle to my 3835 in audio, video, games, all due to sheer processing power. The GUI of the NR-70 isn't as flexible as the 3835 either due to the OS. What IS better on the NR-70 is the text rendering due to it's screen clarity (higher res).
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 12:32:46 AM #
>> The Zaurus SL-5500 costs $450

$313 at BestBuy

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 1:04:08 AM #
I went to BestBuy.com and they don't sell the Zaurus at all, much less at a price that is 1/3 cheaper than Sharp sells it for.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E21952B51
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 1:12:10 AM #
>>>My NR-70 doesn't hold a candle to my 3835 in audio, video, games, all due to sheer processing power. The GUI of the NR-70 isn't as flexible as the 3835 either due to the OS. What IS better on the NR-70 is the text rendering due to it's screen clarity (higher res).

Well - the processing power situation is about to change - no more lead for PPC. And as for the PPC GUI being better because "due to the OS" - what have you been smokeing? The PPC apparently is a more advanced GUI because it has the graphically exciting Today screen? Maybe you are referring to the absurd 'maybe-close- button' - and the subsequent 7 click i have to due on my toshiba to be sure to close a damned app?

I have a toshiba and an NR70 - when a OS5 ARM based sony comes out - it's good bye to PPC forever.


RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 1:12:10 AM #
Zaurus will be gone in a year. Next.

Seriously - will be very exciting horse race over the next year with OS5 (and soon OS6).

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 4:33:31 AM #
yeah it would be exciting to see the race between Toshiba (PPC) and Sony (Palm), I am sorry the rest are just there just so Toshiba and Sony won't feel lonely.
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 1:45:21 PM #
>> >> The Zaurus SL-5500 costs $450

>> $313 at BestBuy

The m505 is discontinued. Ironically, the IIIe (also discontinued) can be had for about $25, and has more apps available than the Sharp.

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 2:53:04 PM #
To the guy that taps "7 times to close an app" on his Toshiba: don't overlook Ctrl+Q

GB

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/27/2002 1:32:09 AM #
To the user who takes 7 taps to close his Toshiba apps;

You should try vBar, a little FreeWare app that adds a drop-down arrow in the upper right corner of the screen. One tap tells you what's open and what's not. Another tap and everything is closed, or close individual apps, your choice. Also a breeze to flip between open apps.

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/29/2002 2:16:31 PM #
Best Buy was selling the Sharp SL-5500 for $313. I bought one at that price.

And for those that think it doesn't have any apps, it can run almost any Linux app ever written, with only minor UI tweaking. Hundreds of Linux apps have already been recompiled for it, and dozens more are every day.

The Death of the Zaurus
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/29/2002 2:22:45 PM #
That was probably a close-out price. Neither Best Buy or Circuit City sells the Zaurus any more. Not exactly a sign of wild success.
RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
Take1 @ 7/30/2002 4:39:50 AM #
Yes. The Zaurus was an utter failure in the retail market. Doesn't matter that stuff's been ported from the Linux desktop -- you need the mainstream PDA apps (HandDBase, AvantGo, eWallet, etc...) to convince people to dump their Palms/PPCs for the device.

RE: Putting the squeeze on Palm...
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/18/2002 3:55:22 PM #
Even if it is a market failure, (which I think is due to price more than anything) it is an amazing thing.. People are talking about not having enough software? Well I have an emulator running palm programs that works great and of course it runs Java programs.. Oh ya, and since its linux and you have the compiler you can port things too:)

Lets not forget that this is basicly the first generation of these devices too, I think in a few years we could look back and see Linux PDA's with a signifigant market share as the emulators improve and Linux continues to grow in the Desktop market (slowly but steadily).

Lets face it.. already you have more potential with the Zaurus running linux than you do with any of the others due to portablity, and its just starting people!

Linux Embedded is going to continue to grow.

Handspring

Token User @ 7/25/2002 5:49:33 PM #
With Handspring sales slipping, I wonder if it is just that they are now appearing in a different chart ... ie Are Treo's (or for that matter Kyocera and Samsung) counted as PDA sales or cellphone sales? ... just an obseration.

Token.

RE: Handspring
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 5:54:56 PM #
no the Treo Series is considerd as a PDA too, if they only cont the Treo 90, I don't think Handspring will be even on the chart.
RE: Handspring
Foo Fighter @ 7/25/2002 5:57:47 PM #
Handspring reported that over 90,000 Treo units were shipped, and less than half were sold.

RE: Handspring
Ed @ 7/25/2002 8:36:48 PM #
After doing some digging I found that IDC doesn't consider the Treo smartphones to be handhelds so they aren't included. I've edited the article to reflect this.

---
News Editor
RE: Handspring
Token User @ 7/25/2002 10:35:39 PM #
Nice to be right sometimes :) ... thanks for checking up.

RE: Handspring
wilco @ 7/26/2002 2:48:47 AM #
Even if you includes Handspring's smartphone numbers, it wouldn't have change the rankings. Another 40-45 thousand units will just add maybe a couple of percentage to sales but still below Sony's 10%. Sad to see Handspring drop from 2nd to it's current ranking. The present hiatus on shipment of Treo 90/270 will just make matter worst. Hope that their luck will turn soon...

RE: Handspring
Token User @ 7/26/2002 2:47:56 PM #
FWIW - The IDC results are for shipped (not sold) units. This would add approx 90,000 units to the HS results. With 1% roughly equal to 26500 units, that adds about 3.5% to bring HS up to par with Sony.

Not too shabby for a company that is changing its direction.

About Hi-Tech Wealth

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 11:03:28 PM #
This company does have a PPC product.
But they don't really sell it.
They sell PDAs with other OS, like Penbex, etc.
They are the #1 PDA maker in China.

Legend sells PPC products. If just counting
PPC, Legen would be the #1 in China.

Another company called MinRen sell PDAs with
other OS too. And it is the #2 PDA maker in China.

ted

RE: About Hi-Tech Wealth
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 12:17:34 AM #
Where can I get some info on these other PDA companies and OS´es? I would like to make a little reserch on that...
RE: About Hi-Tech Wealth
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 4:13:01 PM #
I don't know how you research info. on these companies.

There are many PDA companies in China and Korea.
OS wise, I know there are a few like penbex, MineOS
( I am not sure the spelling) and one fro Korea
are quite popular in China and Korea.

ted

RE: About Hi-Tech Wealth
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 4:16:15 PM #
Legend is a public company, stocks
are offered in HK.

Hi-tech Wealth is supposed to go public
later this year in HK. In my opinion,
this is a much better PDA company than Handspring.
And they make lots of money instead of losing money.


ted

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