FSC bows out of PDA sector

German vendor becomes the latest to leave the diminishing PDA market

Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC) VARs are disappointed but not surprised the German goliath has become the latest manufacturer to exit the rapidly shrinking PDA sector.

With recent figures from research house IDC indicating handheld unit shipments plunged 44 per cent in the second quarter of this year, FSC has opted to phase out its Pocket Loox range in favour of developing an Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) offering.

Chris Love, managing director at online VAR Clove Technologies, said he would keep stocking FSCís N560 and C550 PDAs until the end of the year to satisfy demand from large organisations.

"Iím not surprised by this, but it is a disappointment," Love said. "As smart phones become more featured theyíre taking the place of PDAs. But there is still a requirement for standard PDAs in some corporate markets."

Ian Newall, director of commercial and channel business at FSC said: "PDAs are naturally dying out because of smart phones and we were one of the last manufacturers selling them."

Newall said mobility VARs could expect to see FSC launch a range of smart phones and UMPCs next year. He emphasised that FSC would continue to sell its range of Educational Digital Assistants (EDAs), which use PDA technology.

"As the UMPC technology improves weíll get our partners geared up on the new products," he pledged.

According to IDCís figures, FSC snatched fifth place in the global handheld PC market in Q2 by focusing its efforts on western Europe. Dell, which is phasing out its range of Axim handheld devices, saw shipments plummet by 82 per cent year-on-year.

Total shipments limped in at 720,000, down a whopping 43.5 per cent year-on-year.