Handheld device sales growth slowed in 2001

Growth in shipments of handheld computers in 2001 fell from 114 per cent in 2000 to

just 18 per cent in 2001, according to Dataquest. Still, a record 13.1 million units were

shipped last year.

The Palm OS that powers PDAs by makers such as Palm and Handspring, maintained 57 per

cent of the worldwide PDA market in 2001. Microsoft's PockerPC OS, controlled some 21 per

cent of the market, up from about 11 per cent in 2000.

Palm itself, managed to hold on to a 38.5 share of the 2001 global market for handheld

computers, according to a study released by Dataquest. Palm's share is down from just over

50per cent in 2000. The decline is due to the rapid increase in sales of handheld devices

from Handspring, Compaq, HP, Nokia, Sony and others. In the retail market, however, Palm

retains a dominant share.

Dataquest said Palm shipped some 5.1 million units, more than three times its nearest

competitor. But 2001 shipments were off from the 5.6 million in 2000.

'2001 was a difficult year for Palm,'' said Dataquest analyst Todd Kort. ''But

considering that they owned the market for several years and that serious competition has

finally arrived, it is not a surprise that they would be losing some ten points in market

share from one year to the next.''

Upstart Handspring maintained its second place position in the market with 1.6 million

units shipped, up from 1.4 million in 2000. Its market share edged up to 12.6 per cent.

Shipments by Compaq rose 178 per cent to 1.3 million in 2001 from 466,000 in 2000.

Hewlett-Packard's gained 1.4 per centage points to 5.4 per cent, as shipments reached

711,000 from 442,000.

After a slow overall year, buyers returned in the last three months of the year.

''Strong holiday season purchases were a big contributor to the sales upturn,'' said

Dataquest's Kort. ''Palm and Handspring's average selling price fell to $165 as their

price cuts continued and older inventory was pushed through the retail channel at low

prices.''