Gartner: Microsoft beats PalmSource in PDAs

by Robert McMillan

November 15, 2004 —

Worldwide shipments of personal digital assistants (PDAs) using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE operating system have surpassed those using PalmSource Inc.'s Palm OS for the first time, following a precipitous decline in Palm OS PDA shipments in the third quarter of 2004, according to research released Friday by industry analyst company Gartner Inc.

With just under 1.4 million Windows CE devices sold during the quarter, Microsoft held 48.1 percent of the market, up from 41.2 percent a year earlier. Palm OS shipments were down 28 percent, dropping from approximately 1.2 million to 850,000 when compared year over year. The market share of Palm OS dropped from 46.9 percent to 29.8 percent, Gartner said in a statement.

PalmOne Inc. continued to be the top device vendor, but its market share has dropped from 34 percent to 26 percent in the last year. The company shipped 864,000 PDAs in the third quarter of 2003 and 749,000 during the same period of 2004, according to Gartner.

The Stamford, Connecticut, research company had been expecting a decline in Palm OS shipments, but not one of this magnitude, Gartner said.

The total PDA market was up 13 percent from last year's numbers, with 2.9 million units shipped during the quarter. Gartner's PDA numbers did not include smart phones such as PalmOne Treo 600, the statement said.

IDG News Service