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The market research firm said that the second quarter of this year saw a 26.3 per cent decrease from the same quarter last year - totalling 1.4 million devices.
For the first half of 2006, vendors shipped 2.9 million devices, a drop of 21.4 per cent from the 3.7 million units in the same period last year.
Nevertheless, amongst the vendors, Palm continued to hold the number one spot and is "far and away" the worldwide market leader, said IDC. HP is number two, while Dell is number three.
IDC's figures are for branded shipments and exclude OEM sales. It defines handhelds as not including telephony but may include wireless capabilities.
| Vendor |
2006 shipments
|
2006 share
|
2005 shipments
|
2005 share
|
Growth
|
| Palm |
475,000
|
34.9%
|
638,376
|
34.6%
|
-25.6%
|
| HP |
260,000
|
19.1%
|
380,000
|
20.6%
|
-31.6%
|
| Dell |
132,050
|
9.7%
|
179,200
|
9.7%
|
-26.3%
|
| Mio |
91,700
|
6.7%
|
110,660
|
6%
|
-17.1%
|
| Acer |
60,000
|
4.4%
|
199,351
|
10.8%
|
-69.9%
|
| Others |
401,250
|
29.5%
|
538,225
|
29.1%
|
-25.4%
|
| Total |
1,360,000
|
100%
|
1,846,461
|
100%
|
-26.3%
|
Acer took a big hit, and IDC said its position in number five is threatened by the "others". ยต