Palm's Share of PDA Market Down in January

Posted By: Ed Tuesday, February 20, 2001 3:48:53 PM

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.

Permalink |

Article Comments

(11 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.

Take a closer look

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/20/2001 6:29:28 PM #

Let me make the pre-emptive strike to the Palm haters. Most would agree that PPC users are primarily made up the hardcore, power classification (people like us that read and post on these boards). Incidentally, this is the same group that would be aware Palm has some significantly new products coming out this month or next. Translation: those in the know are in wait and see mode.

RE: Take a closer look

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/20/2001 7:00:17 PM #

I agree, but I think that the Pocket PC's are starting to show some legs in the market. The Compaq iPaq phenomenon is a good example. And I'm not sure that how the new Palm organizers will do - the really interesting one will be quite expensive. I do think that Palm can get buy a little longer on great usability and functionality, but M$ is catching up.(BTW, I'm a Palm junkie, I've got an iPaq and a Palm V and I'll never part with the V - it's just perfect for what I have to do. The iPaq does have some nice features, though...)

RE: Take a closer look

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/20/2001 8:36:53 PM #

think about it this way...

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

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/20/2001 11:16:07 PM #

I think it has even less to do with a "wait and see" attitude or M$ moving in on Palm's territory. They're not even really comparable. If we were discussing handspring, that'd be something different. I can see the iPaq maybe causing some trouble for the visor prism market, particularly because handspring's main selling point is the expandability of the unit and the multimedia applications. That's not what palm is aiming at, at least not for the forseeable future. If the m100 is palm's best seller, comparing the sales to those of the iPaq is totally apples vs oranges. The iPaq is a $550 mobile multimedia/computing solution, while a palm is intended as a companion, not something to perform every function of your desktop (or laptop) computer. if there's one trend i've noticed in threads like these, it's that many palm users also have iPaqs, and they serve different functions for that user. I wouldn't be too concerned about palm losing ground in the handheld market, their customer base will probably remain the same, simply because there's so little true competition.

RE: Take a closer look

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/21/2001 1:18:53 AM #

We are people who know this stuff.

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

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/21/2001 7:06:52 AM #

"you don't have to do things like "start", "shut down" "look at a windows screen for minutes" to turn us off"

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

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/21/2001 3:00:46 PM #

Well, you surely aren't one of the "people who know", because I had a HP hornada, and I sold it to buy a handspring prism, with mp3 player, modem and keyboard.

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

I.M. Anonymous @ 2/21/2001 3:39:20 PM #

Your experience using a Jornada is not the same as using an iPaq. The iPaq is fast, much faster than the Jornada. As I said, know the PDA before you comment. The iPaq is sleek and roughly the same size as a Visor. Yes, the sleeve adds to the bulk but I never use one. And they are removable if you don't need it in any case.

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

Eston Bond @ 2/21/2001 7:36:35 AM #

With Pocket PCs costing more than Palm devices, I don't know if revenue provides an accurate representation of the PDA market share. Maybe units sold would be better.

Don't pay too much attention to one month's numbers

Michael Mace @ 2/21/2001 2:09:37 PM #

Folks,

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.

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/24/2001 8:11:09 PM #

Well, Palm market share still is over around 60%, while WinCE market share is around 10% ( or below ).
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.