Buyers Balk At PDA Purchases In Q3Buyers Balk At PDA Purchases In Q3

Maybe it's concern about obsolescence or maybe it's simple frugality, but many consumers held off on buying personal digital assistants in the third quarter. In the case of Pocket PCs, according to a Gartner report, sales stalled while potential buyers waited for Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system to ship.

Worldwide PDA unit-shipment estimates for the third quarter dropped drastically for Compaq, maker of the iPAQ, according to Gartner. Despite Compaq's offer of free Pocket PC 2002 upgrades to those who bought iPAQs between Sept. 6 and Nov. 30, shipments plunged to 185,000 units in the third quarter compared with 450,000 shipments in the second quarter.

Palm continues to lead the handheld-computing market in terms of market share in both the United States and worldwide, says Gartner, but even Palm saw a slight share loss in the third quarter. Gartner research suggests Handspring Inc. is becoming a stronger competitor in handhelds. Gartner says Handspring crept up to the No. 2 spot, claiming 22% of the market. Palm held 38.2% of the market.