Top Three Handheld Makers in U.S. Market All Use the Palm OS

During the first quarter of this year, Palm Inc. maintained its lead in handhelds shipped in the United States with a 47.5% share, up 1.6% from the fourth quarter of 2001, according to figures from IDC. Handspring was in second place with 14.6%. For the first time, Sony has moved up into third place with 10.8% of the market. Compaq was fourth with 8.6% and Research In Motion rounded out the top five with 5%.

There were 1.7 million handhelds shipped in the U.S. last quarter, close to half of the total for the entire world. This means Palm shipped about 811 thousand units in the U.S., Handspring 249 thousand, Sony shipped 185 thousand, Compaq had 146 thousand, and RIM 85 thousand.

During the fourth quarter of last year, the top 5 was made up of Palm, Handspring, Compaq, HP and Sony.

Worldwide Shipments
In worldwide shipments of handhelds, Palm is also in first place by a wide margin, with 39%. In second place was Compaq, with 10.1%. In third place was Handspring, with 9.9%.

Its important to keep in mind with this survey that IDC doesn't consider the Treo a handheld so shipments of it aren't included at all in either the U.S. or global numbers. The Treo and the Samsung I300 are smartphones, which IDC tracks separately.

Sony appeared in the global top 5 for the first time, with 7.7% of the market, after seeing its shipments more than double in the past year. Sharp was in fifth place with 4.5%.

Though 3.25 million handhelds were shipped worldwide during the first three months of this year, that's a decrease of 12.1% from the same quarter last year.

This means 1.2 million Palm-branded handhelds were shipped worldwide, 328 thousand from Compaq, 322 thousand from Handspring, 250 thousand from Sony, and 145 thousand from Sharp.

These numbers aren't retail sales figures. These are the total numbers of handhelds shipped in the United States or worldwide from manufacturers.

Related Information:

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Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 5:52:44 PM #
WOW!!!!!!! soon Palm Inc. will be just a memory soon.

Sony is king, Palm and Handspring are dead.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 5:55:36 PM #
troll
RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:10:57 PM #
Do you know that Sony, Palm and Handspring cooperate and work together? They are friends, not enemies. I hope this childish post will keep trolls away, they donīt seem to understand...
Let's see here:
MacPrince @ 4/22/2002 7:18:50 PM #
Palm: 47.5%
Sony: 10.8%

You have a rather interesting definition of "killing". But then again, you're a Sony troll, so you live in a different reality than us normal people.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 9:47:32 PM #
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Palm is still VERY strong in businesses. Most, if not all, executives that I know carry a m505 instead of a Sony. I would have too, if only the resolution for the m505 is better.

The thing about Sony PDAs is that they don't have a "professional" feel to them. Made worse by Sony releasing a new model every 3~4 months. Seems quite evident from the new models that Sony is going for the consumer market in earnest, not the corporate market. The corporate world is in Palm's hand for now :).

Anyway, Acer has just released their PalmOS PDAs in Asia. I am quite impressed with them (http://global.acer.com/products/pda/s15.htm), so in the months ahead we can expect to hear more from Acer too.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 10:33:58 PM #
"Professional feel" is overrated. T615Cs look just fine.

Anyway, I think the first post was obvious troll-bash-baiting. Can't we all just get along? Let's celebrate the fact that the Big Three are all Palm OS.

Whap! Whap! Whap!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 11:55:51 AM #
>>WOW!!!!!!! soon Palm Inc. will be just a memory soon.

Sony is king, Palm and Handspring are dead.<<

First off, PLEEEEEAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEE! Don't you post this every time numbers are reported? I remember how Palm was supposed to be dead by the end of 2002. Not likely to happen, huh? Get over it.

The "Whap! Whap! Whap!" from my subject line refers to the nails being driven into Pocket PC's coffin. PPC is losing money--for Microsoft, for its licensees, and probably for those companies dumb enough to buy into it wholeheartedly. Xscale will NOT save PPC--all it will do is make a lame OS run faster and drive up the prices of new PPCs while NOT significantly lowering the prices of current PPCs. This'll be fun, watching all the PPC trolls try to explain away this one. Now if we can just get the Sony trolls to shut up...

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:01:33 PM #
actually iPAQ is kinda making money. And none of Palm maker make money in Q1. Handspring is still never make a single profitable quarter since inception yet.
RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:09:30 PM #
> iPAQ is kinda making money.

Ummm, no. iPaq isn't making any money for Compaq. Its measly sales haven't even begun to pay back all the developments costs over the years.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:15:52 PM #
not an actual number below, but compaq seems to be all gushy about it's iPAQ PDA on it's statement. This with more plan to ramp up production, and cheering over higher margin than desktop. Compaq will be so gushy on a product that lost money on each sale and decide to sell more of it.

what's more I doubt the actual development cost of the hardware would be that big of an invesment for compaq. I bet they can make several rough PDA circuitry before lunch.


www.compaq.com/newsroom/pr/2000/pr2000072501.html

CPCG's return to profitability reflects its ability to deliver compelling new products including its innovative iPAQ line (featuring the iPAQ desktop and the iPAQ Pocket PC), effectively integrate Custom Edge Inc., and focus on permanent cost reduction.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:54:54 PM #
> Compaq will be so gushy on a product that lost money on each sale and decide to sell more of it.

Compaq doesn't lose money on each handheld it sells. The high price is enough to cover equipment costs (and discourage most buyers). But it loses money on the whole line because it doesn't make enough money to cover the development costs..

> I bet they can make several rough PDA circuitry before lunch.

So does the backlight work on these handhelds Compaq is throwing together so quickly? That would be a nice change from their current model.

www.theregus.com/content/54/24627.html

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 2:34:47 PM #
are you Compaq's accountant or a financial analyst? otherwise we are just musing, but on the whole pointing out iPAQ is not making money is about as interesting as saying Palm is not bankrupt yet.

and really, you want to talk about dust, how about wash out, grid ridden screen with bulb poping out left and right? Let's wait until Palm do big screen and see what sort of problem it will have. I bet we gonna be stuck with that tiny screen until OS6.0.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 2:54:46 PM #
Wow, you sure pissed the M$ troll off with the comment on the iPaq's defective backlight. I'll bet he has one of those flawed hunks of junk and you poked him in a tender spot.

That's OK, Mr. Troll, you can get Compaq to replace it. What's that you say, Compaq WON'T replace it? You're stuck with it? Sucks to be you.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 3:36:30 PM #
lol

Did you pay $499 for that m505 junk?

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/24/2002 8:17:09 AM #
Actually, NO ONE has paid $499 for the m505, because it's price AT RELEASE was $450, then dropped to $399, then it was replaced by the m515 at $399.

Which just goes to show that you're a TRUE PPC "troll." You've probably NEVER owned a PalmOS device, but you like to go to PalmOS sites and slam people.

RE: Sony is killing Palm and Handspring!!!!!!!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 9/11/2002 1:08:29 PM #
I wouldn't bet on it, Palm is not going away!!
Pointman

Ehrr..different numbers???

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:06:38 PM #
This is C|net number

1 Palm 1,267 39%
2 Compaq 329 10.1%
3 Handspring 322 9.9%

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-888571.html

what's going on here?

Clarification..
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:11:41 PM #
According to this CNET news article, Compaq occupies the number two spot...not Handspring:

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-888571.html

RE: Clarification..
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:16:36 PM #
Uh, read PIC's article again:

"In worldwide shipments of handhelds, Palm is also in first place by a wide margin, with 39%. In second place was Compaq, with 10.1%. In third place was Handspring, with 9.9%."

RE: Ehrr..different numbers???
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:17:58 PM #
Please read the article again and notice that it has two sets of numbers, one for the U.S. and one for the whole world. The percentages aren't the same for these. Palm has a higher share of the U.S. market, though it still sells four times as many as its next nearest competitor globally.
Numbers
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:30:22 PM #
Ok, I'm sure that I maybe missing something, in which case this is completely off-based, but isn't:

3,250,000 * .475 or 47.5% = 1,543,750
3,250,000 * .146 = 474,500
3,250,000 * .108 = 351,000
3,250,000 * .086 = 279,500
3,250,000 * .05 = 162,500

Carter

RE: Numbers
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:35:04 PM #
Sorry!! READ THE ARTICLE RIGHT!! Numbers are based off of "worldwide" %, not US.

Sorry!
Carter

RE: Numbers
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:36:24 PM #
Carter, you made the same mistake the other peope above did, you confused U.S. and worldwide numbers. You multiplied the number of handhelds shipped worldwide by the U.S. percentages.
RE: Ehrr..different numbers???
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 7:48:53 PM #
Palm still sits atop the market share ladder with 39% (1.267 million) of units shipped in the quarter while Compaq has replaced Handspring as the number two manufacturer with 10.1% (329,000 units). While Compaq managed an 18% increase from this time last year, Handspring saw a major decline with their market share dropping more than 5% to 9.9% (322,000 units). Sony and Sharp rounded out the top 5 with 7.7% (250,000 units) and 4.5% (145,000 units) respectively while Pocket PC manufacturers HP and Casio knocked closely at the door with 4.4% (144,000 units) each. The PalmOS device manufacturers accounted for 56.6% of units shipped in Q1-2002 with Pocket PC manufacturers claiming 18.6%, leaving close to 25% of the market for the "Other" category. THIS ACCOUNTS FOR ALL WORLDWIDE SALES!!!!!!!!
The numbers shift more in the favor of PalmOS devices in the US with Palm accounting for 47.5% of devices, Handspring 14.6%, Sony 10.8%, Compaq 8.6%, and Research in Motion 5%.

Sure, MS lovers!

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:07:29 PM #
They donīt include the Treo, or the Samsung I300 or the Kyocera, they donīt want PalmOS numbers going up. I bet that when the Sendo thing starts to sell they will consider it a handheld... :-(
RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 6:17:25 PM #
That's because the statistics is for PDA's not OS'.
The death of Win CE
jtopf @ 4/22/2002 11:03:41 PM #
It always gues me how the Handheld wars are a repeat of the Desktop wars of the 80's but this time MS is playing the role of Apple and Palm plays MS.

MS is like apple in that it has a more advanced, more expensive product and a small market share.

Now with the fall of HP it is down to essentially a single company selling the hardware while Palm keeps picking up vendors.

Note how the penetration of WinCE is falling from 20-25% last year to 15% now.

This game is over!

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 12:27:16 AM #
It ain't over until the fat lady sing.

Round III of the battle will involved e310 as thin low cost PPC, LOOX new Xscale, followed by the Caddilac of the PDA, Genio 550g with super large screen and same size as 570, while Jornada will come out with 128Megs Xscale or so.

Round I was a complete lost, Round II Palm slip up big time. Round III will start this summer.

WIll OS 5.0 finally answer the feture challange as PPC answer price and size? or will we have more of the same?

---------
Warning, e550g picture below may cause deep seated histerical fear among Palm zealots.

http://www.zdnet.co.jp/mobile/0204/18/n_nge.html

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 12:59:36 AM #
Hey, if these PPC toys run Xscale processors, wouldn't it be technically possible to port over OS5? If only these new PPC's had high-res (320x480) and OS5, Sony might actually have some competition at the high-end...
RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:16:22 AM #
isn't that a bit like putting lawnmower engine into a Porche chasis?
RE: Sure, MS lovers!
rigter @ 4/23/2002 7:16:15 AM #
No, it isn't.
It is for OS4.x though.

The whole move towards OS5 and up was designed to go from "lawnmower" to "Porsche".
I wouldn't use these terms, however. Many people refuse to buy the Porsche because it is outperformed by the lawnmower on some critical points of performance.

The move to OS5 and up should address the remaining points. Well.... in theory anyway.

Cheers,
Jan

/*
One thing a computer can do that most humans can't is be sealed up in a cardboard box and sit in a warehouse.
*/

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 7:19:43 AM #
Funny, about a year ago the M$ trolls were telling us that Palm was bankrupt, that PPC would swallow the market, etc.

The really amazing thing is that M$ has persisted with the losses for so long. The manufacturers off course have much less fat to burn, so look out for fewer models of PPC in future. Eventually, even COMPAQ will fold.

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 8:14:05 AM #
>> Round I was a complete lost, Round II Palm slip up big time. Round III will start this summer. <<

Actually, THIS is Round III, and it's a loss for PPC with PPC 2002. Round IV begins this summer with XScale overpriced toys vs. OS 5.

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 8:19:25 AM #
I've heard that PocketPC has just a few more months to start making money before Microsoft drops it. They've poured tens of millions of dollars down that rathole since the mid-90s and it has yet to make money for anyone.

Compaq, HP, and the rest hate it and would drop it if Microsoft would let them, which it is going to do soon.

Microsoft is making one last push to make some money off PPC by licencing it to everyone who asks. This has made it impossible for any one company (except possibly Microsoft) to make any money.

PPC's sales numbers are sad. Compaq was all happy about selling 2 million iPaqs. Check the numbers in this article. Palm sells almost that many every quarter. Sony has been making CLIEs half as long as Compaq has been making iPaqs and Sony now sells more in the U.S. HP has been beaten out by RIM.

Forget the hype about the new models. They still run the same clunky OS with not very many apps and no developers. No one wants to make PPC apps. If they make a successful one, Microsoft will rip it off and give it away for free.

The whole PPC platform is about to collapse because the companies involved are tired of wasting money on it.

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 8:24:17 AM #
Last I checked, people were concerned with benefits, not features.

Joe Six Pack (which is the market that MS *MUST* convert if they ever want to dominate) doesn't need to watch Star Wars movies on his PDA. Or use Excel. Or use MS Word.

Browsing the internet is something that will be cleared up with hi-res.

Palm is the sentimental favorite.
Palm is the market favorite. (not stock market, but *THE* market).
Palm provides BENEFITS that are peceived as equivalent by Joe Six Pack as the same as MS.

Advantage : Palm

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:04:49 PM #
If Palm is so great how come it keeps loosing market share every quarter? by this time next year palm's share will be in mid 20's. It's already below 40%.

Wanna bet that Palm cannot make OMAP full multimedia model under $499? It doesn't have cost manufacturing advantage compare to the Japanese producer. Than what? keep making $99 m130? good luck.

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:55:08 PM #
The very fact that I'm a tech enthusiast, and yet have never heard of any "OMAP model" means that I don't care, nerds don't care, and Joe Six Pack (again, the market that eventually determines TRUE domination) CERTAINLY doesn't give a rip.

Clue up, pal.

Oh, and by the way, Palm is losing market share to Sony, and HARDLY any to PocketPC.

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 1:57:57 PM #
The very suggestion that the average American needs the added functionality of a Pocket PC proves to me that a majority of this site's readers are narrow minded and very short-sided.

Most business will be giving their employees low cost wireless tablets 5 years from now. You'll take it to meetings with you, direct presentations with it, take notes on it, work on it, etc., and *MAYBE*....I said *MAYBE* wirelessly transmit your finished work at the end of the day to your Palm or dummy terminal (which will transmit it to your company's server).

I work at one of the biggest, slowest, sloth-like companies on earth, and we're already outfitting all employees with computers that save their material to the server instead of their hard drive.

I see very little true functionality offered by PPC that will help it "dominate" or "destroy" Palm in any way.

Put your thinking cap on, folks, and pull out the wide lense.

Quit looking 6-12 months into the future, and think about 3-5 years from now.

Wireless will enable people to work on WHATEVER they want ANYWHERE they want, but they'll be doing it on the MOST COMFORTABLE tools they have, i.e. desktop PCs and tablets, NOT PocketPCs.

Think, McFly, THINK!

RE: Sure, MS lovers!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 2:42:16 PM #
didn't Palm promise that by this time all PDA sold will have wireless capability? And here we are still waiting ofr that browser to be released.

oh well.

HP-Compaq Merger Will Kill PPC
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/23/2002 3:11:51 PM #
The mass confusion as two giant companies try to merge will be the death of both the Jornada and the iPaq. Over 15 thousand people are going to get laid off. And that's a low estimate. I've heard 25 thousand and more. No way HP is going to keep both handheld design teams. Odds are they will lay half of both of them off, then try to combine the remainder. It will take years before these two groups learn to work well together. In the mean time, the whole company will be flailing around trying to get organized while it loses money. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole handheld group didn't get the axe as a cost cutting measure in a year or so.

Without the iPaq, the only slightly successful PPC handheld, the whole platform is doomed.

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