iPAQ Revenues Down 25 Percent

During its most recent financial quarter, HP took in $216 million from sales of its iPAQ models.

This is 25 percent below the amount the company took in during the same period of the previous year.

Unfortunately, HP does not break out the expenses used by its individual business units in its quarterly statements, so there is no way to know whether this company earned a profit off handheld sales.

A Possible Change of Focus

For most of its history, the iPAQ line was made up primarily of traditional handhelds, meaning they lacked cellular-wireless capabilities.

Recently, though, sales of these have begun to wane, while shipments of so-called converged devices (smartphones and cellular-wireless handhelds) have been growing at a strong pace.

This could help explain why HP's revenue has dropped, while companies with a focus on cellular-wireless models have seen theirs shoot up.

HP isn't taking this lying down, though. Last year, it introduced its first smartphone, and announced plans to put out another in a few months.

In addition, statements from HP executives show a strong interest in this market segment.

Todd Bradley, an HP vice president, specifically cited converged devices as a reason for giving the iPAQ team its own business unit, which happened earlier this week.

Related Links

• HP Makes the iPAQ hw6900 Official
• HP Separates Handheld and Notebook Groups