PalmSource and Microsoft Worldwide Share a Virtual Tie in 1Q
Worldwide PDA shipments declined 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2004, but the battle for the PDA operating system market has heated up as PalmSource and Microsoft were in a virtual tie in shipments in the first quarter of 2004, according to preliminary results from Gartner.
Palm OS shipments declined by 20.7 percent in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period last year. Palm OS market share slipped to 40.7 percent, while the Windows CE market share increased to 40.2 percent. Microsoft licensees have been steadily chipping away at the Palm OS lead since 2000, when Microsoft accounted for 11 percent of the PDA market.
"The decline in Palm OS market share in the first quarter of 2004 is not unexpected because many Palm OS users have delayed PDA purchases until they can evaluate PalmSource's upcoming operating system Cobalt," said Todd Kort, principal analyst in Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide group. "Palm OS has also been impacted by Microsoft's bundling of Outlook with every Pocket PC, and the preferred status that Microsoft Windows enjoys with enterprise application developers."
Preliminary Worldwide PDA Shipment Estimates by Operating System for 1Q04 (Units)
1Q04 1Q03
Market Market
1Q04 Share 1Q03 Share Growth
Company Shipments (%) Shipments (%) (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Palm OS 1,113,089 40.7 1,403,418 49.0 -20.7
Windows CE 1,099,931 40.2 1,051,401 36.7 4.6
Research in Motion 405,000 14.8 89,500 3.1 352.5
Linux 52,300 1.9 52,967 1.8 -1.3
Others 64,490 2.4 268,278 9.4 -76.0
Total 2,734,810 100.0 2,865,564 100.0 -4.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Totals include cellular PDAs such as RIM BlackBerry 7230, but
not smartphones. PalmOne results include Handspring PDA shipments.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2004)
Research in Motion experienced the strongest growth among PDA vendors as its shipments increased 352 percent. Its market share jumped to 14.8 percent in the first quarter of 2004, up from 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2003.
On a regional basis, Western Europe exhibited the strongest growth rate, as PDA shipments increased 24 percent in the first quarter. The U.S. PDA market dropped 13 percent. The Asia/Pacific and Japan regions saw PDA shipments decrease 19 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Latin America PDA shipments were up 9 percent from the first quarter of 2003.
Preliminary Worldwide PDA Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q04 (Units)
1Q04 1Q03
Market Market
1Q04 Share 1Q03 Share Growth
Company Shipments (%) Shipments (%) (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PalmOne 834,738 30.5 933,421 32.6 -10.6
Hewlett-Packard 579,842 21.2 455,115 15.9 27.4
Research in Motion 405,000 14.8 89,500 3.1 352.5
Sony 230,666 8.4 376,909 13.2 -38.8
Dell 163,800 6.0 145,170 5.1 12.8
Others 520,764 19.0 865,449 30.2 -39.8
Total 2,734,810 100.0 2,865,564 100.0 -4.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Totals include cellular PDAs such as RIM BlackBerry 7230, but
not smartphones. PalmOne results include Handspring PDA shipments.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (April 2004)
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Sony going down
Sonys are insanely overpriced
M. Visage
RE: Awful quite in here
Sony's Memory Stick isn't going anywhere.
You want Sony quality? Memory Stick is the price you pay. And once you buy one Memory Stick device, you'll buy another... and another...and another...
The TH-55 is that free crack vial the dealer gives out or the razor Gilette gave away to hook the unsuspecting.
Sony's sales briefly tumbled because of overly optimistic pricing. They've made "adjustments" and now will be undercutting Palm, with much better quality to boot. Palm will be left n the dust selling mainly sub-$200 PDAs
And if you ever doubted Sony's digital camera designs, take a look at this:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_t1-review/index.shtml
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0310/03102202sonydsct1.asp
Want one? Iv'e got your Memory Sticks right here, Buddy. While you're at it, can I interest you in a shiny new CLIE?
What Would Michael Mace Do? (WWMMD)
No doubt these data are somehow skewed to make Palm look as bad as possible. I'll bet they didn't include the five Fossil watch prototypes that were made in January. Or all those copies of POSE running on alien picochip desktops in the Grassy Knoll sector of Area 51. I just know it.
Dear Lord, please bless the Caneman and Boy Blunder. Please keep them safe from harm.
Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,
Mike Mace: Is PalmOS 6 going to debut with the new CLIE UX?
Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,
Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
The RIM number also seems to be too high.
Did RIM or Microsoft pay Gartner to put out reports like this?
This is simply ridiculous.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
And where does it say they omitted the Treo? Sounds to me like it qualifies as a "celluar PDA".
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2028
As for the RIM number, below is a link to a article that said RIM's subscriber based rose by 204,000 last quarter.
I don't care if MSFT or RIM is in the lead, but a research firm should never compromise its integrity when it comes to its work. Look at what happened to Arthur Anderson!
This is borderline fraud, and this makes me sick.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like thi
However, if Gartner is ever pulled into Federal Trade Court, their very workable defense is that there is no established nor regulated method to measure market share in the PDA space since product classifications change so fast. This unfortunately is true and they take this doubt to the advantage of their sponsors.
Unlike some more regulated industries with Federal overwatch programs, like agricultural, airlines and automotive, the computer business has benn heavy defended to keep regulation from stifling innovation. Unfortunately, this also creates grossly interpretable market information.
There is an old quote that goes, "There are lies, damn lies and there are statistics." Gartner has taken this to heart. The bottom line is they are more concerned about *their* bottom line and not an objectionable view of the market.
If you want good product reviews, Consumer Reports now does PDA reviews about one or twice a year. However, they do not do anything in market share computation. I wish they did.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
Try reading a bit and do the math before posting such inane remarks.
From RIM's April 7 financial report:
Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 was $210.6 million, up 37% from $153.9 million in the previous quarter and up 141% from $87.5 million in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 66% for handhelds.
$210.6 million x .66 = $139 million. If there were only 204,000 units shipped (you took their net subscriber additions), that would mean that each BlackBerry device shipped would cost an average of $681. Anyone familiar with the BlackBerry knows that is roughly twice what they typically cost. So there probably were close to 405 thousand units shipped as Gartner reported.
There is a tremendous amount of upgrading going on in the BlackBerry installed base, as users switch from older models to the new color 7000-series models based on 2.5G networks. Net subscriber additions are not equal to the number of devices shipped.
I suppose the math may be a bit too much for you yokels to comprehend. You are obviously the kind of people who shoot first and ask questions later.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
It does appear that RIMM shipped 400K units of Blackberries in 1Q. Neverthess, I still believe that Gartner underestimated the number of Palm OS devices shipped in 1Q.
As for your other post regarding the fact that Gartner can't be influenced or bought, I have to disagree with you.....just call it personal experience.
Thanks for the correction on the Blackberry shipment number.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
BTW, this statement is actually kind of mean and funny....I guess I deserve it after my previous remarks on RIM.
Well then, allow me to demonstrate my limited math skill and hopefully I won't embarrass myself. Here are some additional data on Palm OS shipment: I went back and listened to PSRC's latest conference call again. The CFO specifically mentioned that its licensees reported shipping 2 millions units of Palm OS based devices from 12/03 - 2/04. I believe that Gartner had the Palm OS unit shipment at 1.1 million, excluding the Treo 600 shipment. If we take out the 200,000 units in smartphone shipment(137,000 by PLMO and 63,000 by others), we are at 1.8 million, 700K above Gartner's estimate. Of course, there is always the possibility that the CFO was lying to us.
As for your other point of Blackberry being a data-centric device while the Treo is not, therefore justifying Gartner's exclusion of Treo. This simply doesn't much sense since the latest Blackberries almost all have voice capability. Sure the Blackberries don't make a great voice phone, but this doesn't mean that the Treo should be excluded simply because it handles both data and voice well. Case in point - if you go to attwireless.com, you will see that BOTH Blackberries and Treos are listed under the PDA Phone category. In short, Gartner's exclusion of Treo and inclusion of Blackberry in its PDA market share report is highly unusual and illogical, especially when Blackberry didn't even make it in top 5 in a similar research report by Gartner's key rival IDC in the previous week.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
It's nice to encounter people such as yourself who are mature enough to admit mistakes.
One thing about the palmOne numbers - they do not correspond to calendar quarter 1, but instead refer to palmOne's fiscal quarter, which includes their biggest sales month of the year - December.
Given how certain PalmSource employees monitor websites such as this one, I think that if the Gartner estimate of palmOne sales were substantially in error, one of them would have pointed this out.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
To quote a smart lady who once caught me doing erroneous analysis:
“Try reading a bit and do the math before posting such inane remarks”
The 1.1 million shipment number was not the PalmOne number, but rather the Palm OS or PalmSource(PSRC) number, which should include all Sony, Samsung, Tapwave shipments. The PalmOne shipment, according to Gartner, was 835K. You can verify this info on the article above.
I am not questioning Gartner’s number on PalmOne, other than the fact that it left out
Treo 600 while including Blackberries. It is the worldwide OS market share number that I have issues with. If you go back and look at my previous post again, my analysis was centered on Palm OS.
It is also true that PalmOne’s biggest selling month of the year is December. However, to meet the strong retail demand in December, most of the handhelds were actually shipped during the Sept. – Nov. quarter. If you look at Palmone ‘s income statements, you will find that Palmone ‘s Nov. quarter typically generates the highest revenue of the year.
To use another quote (with a minor modification) from a smart lady who once caught me doing erroneous analysis:
“I suppose the reading(math) may be a bit too much for you yokels to comprehend. You are obviously the kind of people who shoot first and ask questions later.”
No hard feelings…..just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give you a hard time. Thanks again for pointing out my mistakes on RIM.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
Please, back up the exclusion claim. It's been a while since I've gotten the opportunity to put my foot in my mouth. :)
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
Blackberry units DO cost a lot more than the consumer's "sticker price". Just like cellular phones, the retail vendor gives the unit to you for less than their cost on the sticker price, but the unit is then subsidized via the service plan rates. So yes, a Blackberry could indeed cost the company (Nextel, Verizon, etc.) 600+ dollars, meaning fewer units would be shipped for the reported monetary amount.
I have to commend Rome for patiently bearing through your initial verbal abuse. It is more than could be expected of most reasonable people, seeing as your remarks were nothing short of inflammatory, saved by the fact that you threw in a couple lines of well-thought, but possibly erroneous, monologue. You would do well to avoid doing so in the future, but hey, that's just my opinion.
However, since your math may also be flawed, since you didn't bother to take actual business practices into account, who is truly the "yokel" that is "posting such inane remarks"? To further quote your own words, you seem to have, through your actions, made yourself out to be the kind of person who "shoots first and asks questions later"!
As for the quote by ";-o":
"Abby: You go, girl!!!!!!"
Heh. If you are who I think you are, I would expect nothing less of you. Wasn't your handle ";-)" before you got banned for being so inflammatory yourself? Have you decided that your better course of action is to encourage others to be inflammatory for you, sort of living life vicariously? If this is not you, then please disregard and accept my apology for the mistake.
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
Abby: let's MESS him up!
Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
How is the dissing?
Here is what a flame looks like...read carefully:
You are an irrlelevent, drooling idiot.
See the difference? Of course you don't, cause you're a vegetable with a keyboard.
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
Flaming Wollombi
Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like this
Heh. It figures.
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
RE: Gartner should be shot for putting out research like thi
Oh shoot, you made me laugh out loud!! Inquiring looks! XD
Competition is good
Bring it on!
-------------------------------
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
RE: Competition is good
RE: Competition is good
However some of the current PalmOne problems are also of their own making. Drop in quality of products, especially in the higher end (T,T2,T3 woes) is pretty much evident.
------------------------
Tired of PPC? Get a TT!
RE: Competition is good
True, but unfortunately this is a tactic used by many companies in the tech industry to get ahead. Adobe has attempted several times, unsuccessfully, to kill off its main rival Macromedia by filing copyright infringement suits. Adobe says it invented the concept of floating pallets, and got an injunction against Macromedia, forcing the company to completely redesign its software. Now...there are hundreds..perhaps thousands...of applications out there that use floating pallet toolbars. Why isn't Adobe going after them? Because Adobe saw a window of opportunity to kill off or cripple its competitor. Why try to compete with them when you can simply put them out of business? Very shady business ethics.
If you can't innovate...litigate. That's the way to get ahead in silicon valley. Microsoft may engage in seemingly unscrupulous strategies, but they ARE NOT alone.
-------------------------------
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Gartner is not to be trusted
Gartner, who has Microsoft sponsoring their conferences, is not going to look honestly at someone that else that doesn't sponsor them. I know several very good market researchers that have quit Gartner for having their research papers kicked back to "reevaluate" to give sponsors more favor.
The omission of any Smartphone data in this evaluation is proof of a bias. The hard stat is portable, handheld OS devices sold no matter what their packaging be it cell phone, stand alone or vertical.
Also, this data is freely given out to the public. In this game, you get what you pay for. When I see Gartner on any market report, I don't give it any value.
The bottom line is that this -20% "drop" in PDA share is due to the fact that the Treo is selling very very well but was left out of this report. Also, the PPC Smartphones are tanking with massive data storage, community failures (yes, PPC Smartphones are crashing mid-cell phone conversation) and thus returns are very high.
RE: Gartner is not to be trusted
Nobody ever questioned the reports when Palm was strongly in front.
RE: Gartner is not to be trusted
But I would not be surprised if PPC's were selling as well as Palms. I would have thought that CE sold more than Palm already.
RE: Gartner is not to be trusted
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Awful quite in here