Posted by : trraju on Oct 25, 2003 - 01:02 AM General

Hewlett Packard has taken the top spot in the western European PDA market from Palm, according to IDC research.
The sector - including voice-only mobiles, traditional standalone PDAs and converged smartphones - is booming, with more than 1.3 million units shipped during the third quarter of this year.
IDC's research found that Nokia retained its number one position in the mobile device market, with 44 per cent market share. But in the standalone PDA market HP overtook Palm in western Europe.

Andrew Brown, mobile devices programme manager for IDC, said in a statement: "The uplift in demand for handhelds is partly attributable to the influx and availability of Windows Mobile Pocket PC 2003 devices, but also suggests a pick-up in terms of business demand."

Symbian was found to remain the market-leading operating system, with a 53 per cent share. But the rebranded Windows Mobile OS, which includes Microsoft Smartphone, Pocket PC, and Pocket PC Phone Edition, saw a sales increase of 73 per cent compared with the same period last year - albeit from a very low base.

Meanwhile, the number of devices shipped using the Palm OS dropped by 3 per cent year on year.

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