Mobile sales soar in Q4

European sales of PDAs and smart phones up by a quarter in 2002

Demand for mobile devices has rocketed, with European sales of PDAs and smart phones increasing by a quarter in 2002, according to research firm Canalys.

Sales in the fourth quarter of last year showed a 72 per cent increase on 2001. Palm is still dominant in the hand-held market while, in the feature/smart-phone market, the clear leader is Nokia.

Mark Robinson, business manager at distributor Hugh Symons, said: "The mobile device market is burgeoning. The PDA has become a dynamic business tool, rather than something to store information."

A total of 1.6 million smart phones and PDAs were shipped in the last quarter of 2002. Of these Nokia shipped 680,000, including steady shipments of its 7650 and 9210 phones.

Palm consolidated its dominant position in the PDA market with a 48 per cent market share, more than twice that of Hewlett-Packard in second place.

Chris Jones, senior analyst at Canalys, said: "Pocket PC vendors are finding it harder to differentiate themselves.

"In the enterprise market, having a choice of several vendors with similar offerings is beneficial, but that market hasn't taken off yet. Its time will come, but the individual retail purchaser remains the buyer of hand-helds."

Robinson agreed, adding that vendors were jumping into the pocket PC market, sometimes with rebadged goods.

"There is a market now for creative solutions in terms of software and integration," he said. "The differentiation in the market is offered by the channel, not the vendors."