Handheld computer shipments fall

SAN JOSE, California: Global handheld computer shipments fell in the third quarter, according to revised data from Gartner Dataquest, which had earlier this week indicated that preliminary results showed a rise.

It said handheld makers shipped 2.55 million units in the third quarter of 2002, a decrease of 2.4 percent from the same period last year. In the United States, shipments totaled 1.21 million, a 1.4 percent decrease. Gartner said that Hewlett-Packard Co. shipments of personal digital assistants had been lowered by 89,000, or 23 percent, due to a discrepancy in earlier tabulations.

"Based on this new information, market growth rates have declined, showing that the PDA industry is struggling more than previously reported," said Todd Kort, an analyst at Gartner Dataquest, in a statement. The new results drop HP to the No. 3 PDA vendor worldwide, and move Sony Corp. up into the No. 2 position. At the top spot, Palm Inc.'s market share has improved to 31.7 percent worldwide and 41.7 percent in the U.S. PDA market, Gartner said.

(C) Reuters Ltd.