PDA Market Continues Contraction, Palm Remains on Top
IDC's fourth quarter 2007 Handheld PDA report continues to show deep declines, yet IDC says the negative trend may be slowing. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped a total of 683,004 units in the fourth quarter, marking a 53.2% decrease from the same quarter a year ago and a 6.0% decrease from the previous quarter. For the full year, vendors shipped a total of 3.0 million units worldwide, down 44.3% from the 5.5 million units shipped during all of 2006.
"In most mature markets, the fourth quarter typically brings an increase in shipments to meet holiday demand, but this was not the case for the handheld device market," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "User interest has shifted away from handheld devices to others that can perform the same tasks, but include features that better meet user demand. The best example of this is the converged mobile device, or smartphone, that can do personal information management and other handheld device functions, but can also make phone calls, making it a better alternative for most consumers."
With the handheld device market posting its sixteenth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline, Llamas does not believe that the market will disappear altogether. "If you look at each quarter during 2007, some of the leading vendors have seen their shipment volumes start to level off. This gives some hope that the market may be finding a sustainable level. Plus, vendors are still introducing new models and reaching first time users. If the market was about to disappear, then neither of these trends would be taking place today."
Top Five Handheld Device Vendors
Palm has had the same models, including the TX, Z22, and Tungsten E2, on the market for more than two years, but not even the lack of a new device has kept the company from the No. 1 position worldwide. Throughout 2007, Palm has steadily increased its quarterly shipments, but shipment volumes remain below 2006 levels.
HP was the clear No. 2 vendor in the handheld device market, and introduced two new devices to its product portfolio: the 211 Enterprise Handheld and 111 Classic Handheld. Despite the heady decline from a year ago, shipments during each quarter of 2007 remained relatively stable from one quarter to the next.
Mio continued to slide throughout the year and, after closing the gap to as little as 60,000 units in the first quarter, the company now trails No. 2 vendor HP by more than 130,000 units. Navigation has become a standard feature on all of Mio's handheld devices, but this pits its handhelds up against the company's competing line of personal navigation devices.
Fujitsu-Siemens was the only vendor among the top five to post positive year-on-year growth, although the improvement was the result of shipping approximately one thousand more units over the previous year. Rather than take a multi-regional approach like other vendors, the company focused solely within EMEA with its Pocket LOOX devices.
Sharp posted the largest year-on-year decline among the leading vendors, but shipped enough of its Zaurus-branded units into Japan to retain the No. 5 slot worldwide and the No. 1 slot in Japan. Within its home region, Sharp accounted for more than half of all handheld device shipments, but as in the rest of the world, shipments of handheld devices there have dropped precipitously.
Top Five Handheld Device Vendors, Q4 2007 Results
|
Vendor |
4Q07 |
4Q07 |
4Q06 |
4Q06 |
4Q07/4Q06
|
|
Palm |
343,500 |
50.3% |
582,000 |
39.9% |
-41.0% |
|
HP |
188,500 |
27.6% |
364,000 |
25.0% |
-48.2% |
|
Mio |
57,914 |
8.5% |
129,027 |
8.8% |
-55.1% |
|
Fujitsu-Siemens |
23,124 |
3.4% |
22,297 |
1.5% |
3.7% |
|
Sharp |
17,250 |
2.5% |
53,800 |
3.7% |
-67.9% |
|
Others |
52,716 |
7.7% |
307,602 |
21.1% |
-82.9% |
|
Total |
683,004 |
100.0% |
1,458,726 |
100.0% |
-53.2% |
Top Five Handheld Device Vendors, Full Year 2007 Results
|
Vendor |
2007 |
2007 |
2006 |
2006 |
2007/2006
|
|
Palm |
1,281,050 |
42.0% |
1,982,000 |
36.2% |
-35.4% |
|
HP |
754,800 |
24.8% |
1,210,000 |
22.1% |
-37.6% |
|
Mio |
376,139 |
12.3% |
442,893 |
8.1% |
-15.1% |
|
Fujitsu-Siemens |
130,534 |
4.3% |
103,491 |
1.9% |
26.1% |
|
Dell |
108,175 |
3.5% |
490,000 |
9.0% |
-77.9% |
|
Others |
396,849 |
13.0% |
1,245,169 |
22.7% |
-68.1% |
|
Total |
3,047,547 |
100.0% |
5,473,553 |
100.0% |
-44.3% |
Source: IDC Worldwide Handheld QView, February 11, 2008
Notes:
- Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude ODM sales for all vendors.
- Handheld devices are pocket-sized, either pen or keypad-centric, and are capable of synchronizing with desktop or laptop computers. Handheld devices are designed to access and manage data including office documents, multimedia, and games.
- Handheld devices do not include telephony but may include wireless capabilities (like Bluetooth and WiFi) that enable Internet access and text communication. These devices feature evolved operating systems or applications environments such as the Palm OS, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Linux, or other proprietary platforms with the ability to download, run applications, and store user data beyond PIM capabilities.
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RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
And yes, before anyone else has the chance to say it, yes, that probably does show that I'm "abnormal".
"twrock is infamous around these parts" (from my profile over at Brighthand due to my negative 62 rep points rating)
RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
Z22:
-SD or microSD slot
-~512mb integrated flash storage
-3.5mm Stereo headphone jack
-Multiple color choices (at least white & black)
T|E2:
-Updated OS/app bundle
-64mb RAM
-BT 1.2 OR BT & wi-fi
A more radical concept that I've mentioned here before would be to drop the E2 entirely OR rebuild it entirely, replacing the Graffiti area with a small QWERTY board (modern Treo 90, anyone?) and target it as a Sony MYLO competitor. Basically, a $100-$150 Centro-style PMP/text messaging/e-mail machine for teens who cannot afford a real Centro + service plan. Or as a PDA for diehards who never got the hang of Graffiti
TX:
-Integrated microphone
-Charge/notification LED
-Higher-capacity battery
-Updated OS/app bundle
-2 or 4gb of internal flash storage ala T5
-Faster (416mhz+) CPU
-User-selectable Graffiti 1 or 2
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: I want a new PDA
RE: I want a new PDA
PDA's Past and Present:
Palm TX (Number 2)
Palm - IIIxe, Vx, M500, M505, Tungsten T, TX
Handspring - Edge, Platinum, Deluxe
Sony - SJ22
Casio-EM500
Apple - MP110, MP2000, MP2100
RE: I want a new PDA
Where's the iPod Touch?
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
It's got a long way to go yet - but popular interest is there and the SDK will go down a storm.
It'll be really interesting to see where the iPod Touch is in 12 months time, what apps have appeared and whether Apple evolves the Touch to include more PDA-like features (hint - a slot for some flash memory storage perhaps?).
Fingers crossed for a media-centric PDA renaissance.
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
rpa
Palm Pilot >> Palm Tungsten E user
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
Oh well, we can only hope Palm changes, and we'll see what the future brings (if anything).
:-/
All good things...
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
This causes me to wonder. With the Touch now offering 16GB and 32GB, why do you need a slot? No, really, I'm not being snarky here. I have a LifeDrive and even though I have 3GB internally 80% filled, I have just a 1GB SD card, half full. And what's *on* it, media, I hardly ever use. So a 16 or 32GB Touch would be plenty for me without a slot, I think. Even if you packed a ton of movies on it, how many times do you have a two-hour stretch to sit and watch a movie?
RE: Where's the iPod Touch?
I have a 160gb iPod Classic and, despite hating it with a passion, there's no doubt that it packs in a staggering amount of capacity. I have it 2/3 full with my entire music collection in blissfully high bit-rates and still with some room for, say, live gig bootlegs, videos, data storage etc.
Another real-world example I can think of off the top of my head was when I was recently inspecting some property damages at an remote offsite location. I was able to take some pictures that were low resolution & heavily compressed with my "real" digicam but still far exceeded anything the Treo's feeble camera could have done. I then popped the SD card out of my camera into my Treo and e-mailed them to several different parties.
And, of course, a removable media slot allows users to do stuff like have a card full of "personal & confidential" informatioin, or a card full of videos etc. If the iPod Touch had an SDHC slow it could pack 64mb of flash storage instead of 32. Or the iPhone could have 32gb or 48gb instead of 16gb.
No, Apple is like Palmm just with much more R&D prowess and flair...they want to intentionally cripple their devices to keep the overpriced 3rd party accessory ecosystem vibrant and to keep selling users new units that just offer more storage. Why else would Apple continue to resist adding an FM tuner to the iPods as well as user-replacable removable batteries and expansion card slots?
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Verizon Treo 700P-->Verizon 755p
The PDA is dead?
RE: The PDA is dead?
RE: The PDA is dead?
RE: The PDA is dead?
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: The PDA is dead?
PALM's total PDA output has shrunk.
That is to say, for example, if there are THREE equal PDA makers, one drops out, and the other two reduce their own output by 50% then the other two's marketshare has grown from 33% to 50% regardless.
And that's what's happened with PALM.
RE: The PDA is dead?
The process is bottom up. They give us what the numbers say we want. And the numbers prove that we have a healthy appetite for smartphones and NOT PDAs.
RE: The PDA is dead?
PDA brand loyalty on the other hand... well, just look at all of us cranky already-ditched-Palm sourpusses here who *still* waste time, energy, and effort here even after not getting any new models, even after having been burned with upgrades, bugs that won't-be-fixed, etc.
Even those of us that want to see nails in Palm's coffin WANT to see Palm produce another compelling high end, feature-full PDA (with or without a phone).
*THAT* is loyalty.
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I want a new PDA
Yeah every time I look at getting a new PDA I realize that the best one out there that I would get is one that I have been carrying around for a couple of years.