Report: New Handheld Devices Needed To Stem Shipment Drop

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The handheld device market, which once seemed like it would grow forever, recorded a drop in third quarter unit sales with similar declines expected in the next quarter, according to a market research report released Thursday.
IDC's Worldwide Handheld Qview reported that shipments of handheld devices dropped to 1.1 million units in the third quarter from the second quarter. The figure was down 31.3 percent from the year-earlier quarter.
Ramon Llamas, IDC Mobile Markets research analyst, attributed much of the decline to a lack of new devices coming on the market. "Vendors continue to rely on models that have been on the market anywhere between two and four quarters," he said in a statement. "Without many new devices on the market in the third quarter, it brings into question how shipments will total during the fourth quarter."
With market pacesetter Palm logging an 8.2 percent drop in shipments and number two supplier HP down 40 percent, IDC noted that the market needs new devices to regain its former growth rates. The major bright spot in the report was recorded by Taiwan's Mio, which had a 5 percent gain in shipments.