Gartner: PDA Sales Up 1%

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Worldwide PDA shipments totaled 2.6 million units in the third quarter of 2002, a 0.9 percent increase from the same period last year, according to preliminary results by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Shipments for the first three quarters of 2002 are down 8.3 percent from the same period last year. Gartner Dataquest analysts said the market will need an exceptionally strong shipment of PDAs in the fourth quarter for the industry to maintain worldwide growth in 2002. Palm, Hewlett-Packard and Sony accounted for 58 percent of all PDA shipments worldwide in the third quarter of 2002. Palm surpassed 30 percent market share in the third quarter, while Sony and Toshiba showed the strongest growth in the quarter with increases of 280 percent and 1,705 percent, respectively. Toshiba is a relatively new market entrant, which explains the high initial growth rate. "Palm is not as dominant as it once was, but it still shipped more than twice as many units in the third quarter as the No. 2 vendor, HP. Palm engaged in significant promotional activity in the third quarter to reduce inventories and make room for new models that will be launched in October 2002," said Todd Kort, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest. "Sony PDA shipments have nearly tripled since the third quarter of 2001, and it is on the heels of HP, contending for the No. 2 position. Sony has been averaging about one new model launched every month of 2002." In the U.S. market, Palm had a more commanding lead, with nearly 40 percent of all units shipped in the third quarter of 2002. Sony moved into the No. 2 spot with nearly 19 percent market share, followed by HP at 15 percent. Sony's U.S. shipments are more than four times the level of a year ago. For the first time, Microsoft licensees captured more than 30 percent of worldwide PDA shipments, up from 16.2 percent in the third quarter of 2001. Palm and Sony, along with Handspring and a few other Palm OS licensees comprised approximately 48.6 percent of worldwide PDA shipments in the third quarter of 2002, the same as the third quarter last year. Gartner/Dataquest