Dell Says Axim Has 10% Marketshare

The new Dell Pocket PC models may have already captured as much as 10% of the U.S. handheld market, according the company's CEO Michael Dell. The Axim X5 series went on sale in mid-November.

In an interview with silicon.com, Mr. Dell said "We've heard different reports for the first quarter. It [market share] may be in excess of 10% but we don't know that yet. And it wasn't even a full quarter."

If this information is correct, it would be almost unprecedented growth. Sony had been in the U.S. handheld market for over a year before it had a 10% share. This would make Dell the fourth largest handheld maker in the U.S., behind Palm, Sony, and Hewlett Packard. Plus, if sales of the Axim came at the expense of one of these companies, it may even have surpassed them. HP, for example, accounted for just 11.3% of the handhelds shipped in the U.S. last year, according to Gartner Dataquest.

Of course, much of the popularity of the Axim Line has been its low prices. The Entry model sells for $250 and includes a 300 MHz XScale processor. The Advanced one, with a 400 MHz processor, sells for $350. Both have SD/MMC and CompactFlash slots. The $50 rebates previously offered on these models ended January 23.

These models have proved to be more popular than even Dell was expecting. Customers who order an Axim now have to wait weeks for their handheld to be delivered.

Speaking before the release of the Axim line, Anthony Bonadero, director of worldwide mobile products for Dell, said, "Our goal for 2003 is to have at least a 25% market share."

Related Links

• Customers Irritated Over Axim X5 Delays
• Dell's Axim targets the "new HP"