 Mumbai: Worldwide handheld device shipments declined 6 per cent to 2.44 million units in the third quarter of 2002, from 2.59 million units in the corresponding quarter of 2001, according to International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Handheld QView. IDC said the overall worldwide handheld device market also continued declining, contracting for the third straight quarter. ''The demand for handheld devices remained soft during the third quarter due to weak economies in most regions,'' says Weili Su, senior analyst in IDC's Smart Handheld Devices service. ''For the upcoming holiday season, we expect worldwide market growth to remain flat or slightly down from a year-on-year perspective.'' Palm continued to lead with 33.8 per cent of the worldwide handheld device market in the third quarter, up from 29.1 per cent a year ago. Palm has proven its resilience in the market despite the recent turmoil that has plagued the vendor. IDC said Sony demonstrated its uncanny prowess in increasing its shipments in a declining climate and surpassed HP in the third quarter to become the number-two handheld device vendor worldwide. HP's grip on the worldwide handheld device market slipped from 16.5 per cent in Q2 to 11.9 per cent in Q3. Toshiba was another surprising force, advancing to number four worldwide, ahead of Handspring (United States) and Hi Tech Wealth (China), which have appeared in the top-five chart regularly.  Handspring retreated to eighth place, as it increased its focus on its converged device business. Handspring's market share fell from 14.1 per cent a year ago to 3.9 per cent in the third quarter.
The overall handheld device market declined 7.1 per cent from the second quarter of 2002 to the third quarter. Sony, Toshiba, and Research-In-Motion were the only vendors that increased their worldwide shipments in the third quarter over the previous quarter. Top 5 Vendors in the third quarter of 2002 (Preliminary) (in 1000s)
| | Q3 2002 | Market | Q3 2001 | Market | Shipment Growth | | Vendor | Shipment | Share | Shipment | Share | 2002/2001 | | Palm | 824.00 | 33.8% | 753.00 | 29.1% | 9.4% | | Sony | 350.00 | 14.4% | 93.00 | 3.6% | 276.3% | | Hewlett-Packard | 290.00 | 11.9% | 320.00 | 12.4% | -9.4% | | Toshiba | 103.70 | 4.3% | NA | NA | NA | | Casio | 100.00 | 4.1% | 185.20 | 7.1% | -46.0% | | Others | 768.67 | 31.5% | 1,239.80 | 47.8% | -38.0% | | All Vendors | 2,436.37 | 100.0% | 2,591.00 | 100.0% | -6.0% | *Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or direct to end-users. OEM sales are counted under the vendor/brand under which they are sold.
*Data for Hewlett-Packard includes shipments for both Hewlett-Packard and Compaq-branded products.
*Handheld devices include pen-based and keypad-based handheld devices.
*Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods.
|
