PDA shipments higher in the 3rd quarter, but still a sluggish year

Research firm Gartner Dataquest reported today that 3Q shipments were up a bit over the prior year, but the full year will show little growth, unless demand for PDA’s scales up substantially for the Holiday season.

The study found that 2.6 million PDA’s were shipped globally in the third quarter, up 0.9 percent over the same quarter last year. They go on to say that shipments thus far are down 8.3 % over last year.

I would expect to see a surge in December when the new breed of entry-level Pocket PC’s come to market. Although, it may not be enough to salvage the year, meaning a decline in PDA shipments over the prior year for the first time ever.

Brian