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European smartphone & handheld trends

Perhaps the research industry as a whole has taken some credibility hits. I have heard of several instances of VC dismissing market growth projections from GartnerGroup with, at times, extreme prejudice.
Today, in a somewhat odd piece of news, we’re told that a firm I’ve never heard of before, Canalys, has confirmed research giant IDC’s data on handheld and smartphone sales. I’m sure it’s meant to be reassuring.
On to the data: 1M handhelds were sold in the EMEA market (Europe, Middle East, Africa) with HP now the resounding leader at 33%, leaving Palm and Sony behind - with Palm’s share eroding a further 19% to stand at 25%. 2M smartphones were sold, with Nokia claiming 78% marketshare of new sales.

“Handhelds have found a new lease of life with the arrival of competitively priced GPS navigation bundles,” said Canalys senior analyst and director Chris Jones. “In some countries, Germany being a prime example, major retailers are now insisting on navigation solutions in preference to standalone handhelds, and the leading vendors are taking advantage of this. Vendors without navigation bundles will find it harder to get shelf space - Palm and Sony are pointed out by Canalys as having some catching up to do in this area.

Also, Canalys predicts it will become more and more difficult to sell such devices purely on the basis of personal information management. Low end handhelds are competing with smartphones offering a similar level of functionality; high end models must offer other benefits to justify their higher price points.”

Jones points out that navigation benefits from the larger screens of handhelds, though he expects that smartphone vendors will eventually wake up to the opportunity. Providing audio feedback can offset the disadvantage of a smaller screen, and as regulation forces drivers to mount mobile phones on their dashboards smartphone vendors will turn this to their advantage.

Source: infoSync World : Canalys confirms IDC numbers for 2003