Palm's Share of PDA Market Down in January
According to figures released by PC Data today, Palm Inc.'s share of the Handheld market slipped slightly during January to 60.5%, down 4.5% from December. Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff said that the company's revenues were about $51 million in January, down from $154 million in December and the holiday buying season.
Handspring slipped about a point, earning 26.2% of the market. Their sales were about $23.7 million in January, off from $65 million in December but up from $17 million the month before.
Sales of all PocketPC handhelds were up slightly, with 10% of the market in December, up from 6% the month before. They were lead by Compaq, whose share doubled to 4.1% in January from 2.0% in December. Hewlett-Packard also had 2% in December; in January, its share rose to 3.5%. Casio rose to 2% from 1.5%.
In an article in Cnet, PC Data analyst Stephen Baker said Palm and Handspring had a bigger share in December than in January because of holiday-related purchases of their less expensive models. But Baker added that the new figures probably don't indicate a long-term change in market share because sales of Pocket PC-based handhelds, which are sold more often to business-people than are Palm-based handhelds, are less seasonal.
These ranking are in terms of revenue, not by units sold.
Baker said the average selling price for all handhelds was $296 last month, up from $280 in December. He said the rise was because pricier Pocket PCs made up more of the market. Also, Palm is experiencing a post-holiday jump in average selling prices. Palm heavily marketed its entry-level m100 and low-end IIIxe during the holidays but is now more aggressively selling its high-end models, like the VIIx.
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RE: Take a closer look
RE: Take a closer look
these are revenue numbers...Palm's biggest seller? M100...compare its price to the iPaq's price and tell me how many M100's must be sold to equal 1 iPaq being sold...
now look at the fact that Palm STILL had 60% of the market in REVENUE! That's quite a few more Palms than iPaqs according to my calculations.
iPaq's aren't gaining ground, Palm lowered the price on it's best seller slightly and still sold so many that they only lost 6%.
Think before believe compaq is gaining ground. if it was units sold, i'd agree with you.
RE: Take a closer look
RE: Take a closer look
But the people in general don't know.
They just see "200 mhz, 32 mbit ram, mp3 player..hmm palm has 20, 8mb and no speaker... PP looks like a better deal"
And people who just buy pda's for bragging think there's more to brag with a fancy PP than with the "simplistic" palm.
But we, people who know, stay with palm/handspring, and people who know they don't want their computer too.
Maybe if PALM did a decent publicity campaign like "PP says we can't browse the net, but look at proxibew, we can even use pictures! We can send/receive mail too, and we are faster, even if they got 200 mhz and us 20, and you don't have to do things like "start", "shut down" "look at a windows screen for minutes" to turn us off, you just push a button." as main ideas, in multiple ads that really make the people see that the 32 mbit ram of the pocket pc are like 6.5 megs in a palm, and that the 200 mhz in the pp are like 15 mhz in the palm, and that batteries last longer on palm, ect etc
RE: Take a closer look
Um, none of these features, save the Start button, are on a PocketPC. The Start button serves as the Applications button in PalmOS (with a little different technology. People who "know" should know these facts. Hard to properly compare PalmOS and PocketPC without the right facts. That's a big part of the problem I've seen with debates between Palm and PPC loyalists. Know the other PDA before you criticize it!
I have a VDX and an iPaq. I primarily use the iPaq because it fits how I use it. It has Word & Excel right out of the box, free development tools (I'm sorry, GNU just doesn't compare to the tools MS gives you for free), and an expanding third-party developer base. I want an easily programmable computer in my hand. PocketPC fits that bill and adds some of the features I had bought my VDX for (Contacts, EMail, Tasks, Calendar). When I wanted a PDA with lots of applications, I had my Visor. Now that I want more, I have an iPaq.
Palm has the lion's share and will continue to have it because of simplicity and price. Power users will move over to PocketPC's because of what it can do. The market share thing is probably a function of wait and see with Palm's new offerings. But there's room in the market for both depending on your needs.
RE: Take a closer look
Sorry mr. Pocket Pc fan, but PP's are slower (people who know know that) because of the sheer amount of data and other stuff they got to handle. Its not the same running naked than running with a 400 pound jacket over you right? The 200MHZ PP hasthe jacket, sorry.
PP's are also bulky, heavy and just aren't made to be into your pocket.
Palms are simple, and pp's aren't.
Want features? I got the keyboard, the modem, the mp3 player and I am bying an expansion module.
You don't have a modem or a keyboard eh?
You CAN buy them, but the PP is already too expensive!
I got more features than you, same price and more simplicity
RE: Take a closer look
Listen, I'm a fan of both technologies. I've just progressed to the point where I find my PPC more useful, as do other people. I've used both devices and I certainly know their capabilities.
A Prism with MP3, modem, keyboard is comparable in price to an iPaq (MP3 built in) with CF sleeve, CF modem, and keyboard. I can make the CF modem an CF Ethernet card for not that much more money as well. For the same price I get what I need: Excel, Word, a screen with more resolution, and an easily programmable PDA.
That's what I want and others want too. That's my point. It's what you want, not "my PDA is better than yours."
hmm
Don't pay too much attention to one month's numbers
I see the monthly raw report from PC Data. The numbers vary tremendously from month to month, so you don't want to get too spun up about any one month's results.
For example, in December Pocket PC share went down from 8% to 5%. Now it has rebounded. If you say it's growing today, you have to conclude that it was dying last month.
The rumors about unreleased products from lots of vendors are also muddying the water. We won't really know what the underlying trend is until everybody releases their new systems.
Mike
Palm Inc.
Palm, Inc.
The subject of the article can mislead people.
But the subject, Palm's Share of PDA Market Down in January, makes you feel that, "Ah.. Palm is losing market."
What do you feel if the subject is like, "Palm's still solid against WinCE attack."
When Apple iMac was introduced and sold well, I don' see any article "Windows market is threatend by the introduction of iMac" or sort of..
I think this is a kind of "conspiracy theory" thing.
Journalists are too much biased toward the MS.
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