Smartphones started becoming a big marketplace hit toward the end of 2004 while handhelds showed only modest growth, according to a global study released this week by UK market research firm Canalys.
The study found that shipments of smartphones and so-called feature phones, which are similar to smartphones, increased slightly more than 100 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004 compared to the same quarter of 2003.
By contrast, handhelds, including wireless handhelds, only saw a sales increase of five percent, the market study found.
The study covers mobile data devices, not sales of standard mobile phones.
PalmOne was one company that saw, first hand, both sides of that trend, according to Canalys. That vendor saw its smartphone shipments increase 154 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. However, sales of its handhelds fell six percent, according to the study.
Still, palmOne retained its second position in worldwide sales with 13.8 percent of the marketplace compared to 45.4 percent for Nokia.
The study measures sales of handhelds and smartphones but not standard mobile phones. Hewlett-Packard was in third place with 8 percent of the market, a drop from almost 12 percent a year ago. That reflects the fact that HP's offerings consist primarily of handheld devices.
Research In Motion was in fourth place but saw unit sales of its BlackBerry devices grow almost 250 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004 compared to the year before.
The leading platform for smart mobile devices was provided by Symbian, with more than 53 percent of the market, the study found. That reflects the overall success, worldwide, of Nokia smartphones, which use the Symbian platform.
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