Windows Mobile Takes Over As RIM Shifts To Smartphones

Written by Adam Gosling

Thursday, 24 May 2007

Page 1 of 3 New marketshare results from industry research outfit, Gartner, show that Microsoft's influence in the mobile market continues to grow at an increasingly healthy pace. Shipments of the company's Windows Mobile operating system on PDA devices reached 3.2 million in the first quarter this year as Windows-based PDA shipments grew 64 percent. This strong growth helped propel worldwide PDA shipments to 5.1 million units, a 39.7 percent increase from the first quarter of 2006, said Gartner. "Microsoft Windows Mobile licensees accounted for nearly 3.2 million PDA shipments in the first quarter of 2007, or more than 62 percent of all PDA shipments in the quarter," said Todd Kort, principal research analyst in Gartner's Client Computing group. "This strong growth was surprising because Windows Mobile 6 will launch in the second quarter, accompanied by the launch of many new and improved models. Normally, consumers and businesses have constrained their purchases when upgrades are imminent." Research In Motion (RIM) was the nearest competitor with 18.1 percent market share. "With Windows Mobile device shipments up over 1.2 million units from the first quarter of 2006, Microsoft has achieved a dominant position in the market for data-centric devices. However, Microsoft has faltered in the much larger smartphone market," said Mr. Kort. "The reverse is true for Symbian and Nokia. RIM seems to be the only company making a balanced effort, although it still has a lot of catching up to do in the smartphone market." See over for marketshares: << Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>