Mobile device sales on the up
Nokia and HP stay in front as smartphone and hand-held shipments soar in EMEA
Demand for hand-held computers and smartphones in EMEA is mushrooming, according to research firm Canalys.
Nearly 2.6 million devices were shipped in the second quarter of 2004, an increase of 52 per cent on last year, the analyst claimed.
Nokia led the way, shipping 1,351,400 smartphones during the quarter, or 52.4 per cent of the total market, and just over 80 per cent of the voice-centric hand-held device market.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) continued to lead the data-centric market, shipping more than 250,000 iPAQs during the quarter. Its market share of 28.3 per cent dwarfed that of rival palmOne, which claimed 19.8 per cent. In the same period last year, HP held 24.6 per cent of the market, while palmOne held 33.8 per cent.
"HP has had a great deal of success because it has good channel reach," said Canalys analyst Rachel Lashford. "It has a very loyal channel, and its iPAQ products reach from consumers up to large enterprises."
However, the channel has yet to benefit fully from businesses buying in the market.
"Mobile devices are bought mostly by individuals. They use them in their business life, but it's not an official company purchase," said Lashford. "Spending on business mobility is picking up, and vendors need to attract customers with fully featured products that work out of the box."
Dean Murphy, head of mobility at VAR Satsuma Solutions, said many companies were taking a two-device approach.
"We've recently launched a rentable push email service based on the Orange version of the XDA2, and there has been phenomenal interest," said Murphy.
"Companies are moving to a two-device scenario ? a mobile phone and an integrated device that just provides data services. People are no longer going for the one-device model; they're getting the best function from each device."
Murphy said that smartphones were not enjoying much success in the business market.
"There hasn't been much take-up in the corporate space," he said. "We are asked about smartphones, but it's usually an elimination question."