Shipments of Handhelds Continue to Climb

Ed Hardy · 08-08-2005, 01:01 PM

Worldwide shipments of handhelds increased over 30 percent last quarter, and the handheld market is on track to set a new record in the number of units shipped in a single year.

Read more at www.brighthand.com/article/Gartner_Results_Q205

Heda · 08-08-2005, 02:10 PM

wow, WM is doubling the nearest competition.

that's pretty bad for Palm when even RIM is in front of u.

Ed Hardy · 08-08-2005, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Heda
that's pretty bad for Palm when even RIM is in front of u.

It seems you still think of RIM as a niche player in the handheld market. While this was once true, times have changed. RIM is now one of the largest sellers of handhelds, with shipments nearly twice that of HP.

If trends continue as they are now, the BlackBerry platform will surpass Windows Mobile before too much longer. However, Microsoft is working hard to make sure that doesn't happen, by helping its licensees make devices that compete head-to-head with the BlackBerry (e.g. the Motorola Q and iPAQ hw6500 series).

In addition, as I mentioned in the article, Gartner doesn't include Treo sales in these numbers, and one-third of the devices Palm now sells are Treos. If these were included, the Palm OS would almost certainly be in second place.

Heda · 08-08-2005, 03:28 PM

it's not really that, it's just that RIM came up so big so fast. that i would be embarrassed if i were Palm, to once be king then dethrowned so quickly by 2 young "hot shots".

surur · 08-08-2005, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed
In addition, as I mentioned in the article, Gartner doesn't include Treo sales in these numbers, and one-third of the devices Palm now sells are Treos. If these were included, the Palm OS would almost certainly be in second place.

I don't see how you get that. If you add the palm "smartphone" you have to add the WM smartphone also, which as we know shipped near equally. WM would still be ahead.

Surur

Edit: Sorry, mis-read the article. Ed was referring to POS and Blackberry

Ed Hardy · 08-08-2005, 05:37 PM

Yes, there's no question that Windows Mobile is definitely in the lead. What I said was that, if Treo sales were factored in, then the Palm OS would still be ahead of BlackBerry, putting it in second place.

Timothy Rapson · 08-08-2005, 07:05 PM

It seems odd to think of RIM as the big growth product in PDAs as it could never satisfy my needs the way it works right now. Where is the Bible program? The music player? The full-featured word processor? I guess there are a couple of suites included. Do they support native files? Are any RIMs equipped with SD slots? Cameras? I just see them more as glorified pagers than PDAs.

On the other hand, the Treo is 95% straightforward POS PDA with a phone added. But, it is not included. I am not faulting Brighthand as you, Ed, make if clear the oddities of the news. But, Gartner (I never have been a fan of Gartner) needs to do some serious thinking about how they designate these products, and get an overall set of categories that are meaningful.

Finally, the dumbest thing of this whole recent Gartner nonsense leaves us with this ridiculous conclussion. Palm sales are flat with the Treo and down 30% without it. HP Ipaq sales are down. Dell Axim sales are down. But, the title of this article and presumably of Gartner's report is that Sales of PDAs are up. Nonsense.

What will we get next? If the next Nintendo DS really does include PIMSs from POS, even though it has no SD slots and won't run POS addon software, will it be called a PDA and lead Gartner to conclude that sales of PDAs are up 400%? Someone needs to think this through a little better.

wshwe · 08-08-2005, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Timothy Rapson
It seems odd to think of RIM as the big growth product in PDAs as it could never satisfy my needs the way it works right now. Where is the Bible program? The music player? The full-featured word processor? I guess there are a couple of suites included. Do they support native files? Are any RIMs equipped with SD slots? Cameras? I just see them more as glorified pagers than PDAs.

Most people don't want Bible programs, music players or word processors together in the same mobile device. Most people want straightforward devices that perform a limited number of functions really well. Blackberries do a masterful job handling mobile email. It's the same way with iPods, iTunes and music.

Timothy Rapson · 08-08-2005, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wshwe
Most people don't want

You must be right about that. Look at the sales of RIM Blackberries. I know it is true. I just can't understand it.

I wonder what happens with Palm sells both WM and POS Treos. Will Gartner still say the POS model is not a PDA, but identify the WM model as one? What if Palm licenses the RIM OS and puts in on a Treo. Will that then be a PDA, while the POS model is not?

Ed Hardy · 08-09-2005, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Timothy Rapson
I wonder what happens with Palm sells both WM and POS Treos. Will Gartner still say the POS model is not a PDA, but identify the WM model as one?

Interestingly, I was just talking to Todd Kort at Gartner about this. He says that his company would classify a Windows Mobile Treo as a smartphone.