HP comments on recent handheld devices market share data

HP not only led the overall growth of the handheld industry, but also moved significantly closer to the No. 1 position in the overall PDA category. HP remains the No. 1 worldwide Pocket PC vendor.

"Customers responded loud and clear to HP's broad handheld product portfolio which not only helped HP lead the worldwide growth with a 52.5 percent sequential gain, but also made us the biggest contributor to taking the overall handheld market into positive sequential growth for the first time since Q4 2002," said Ted Clark, vice president handhelds, Mobile Computing Global Business Unit, HP. "HP surpassed industry expectations, with quarter-over-quarter market share jumping from 17.6 to 24.5 percent. That growth helped us further solidify our strong No. 2 position in handhelds."

"In the Middle East, HP's full line of revolutionary iPAC Pocket PCs, launched in August has more than tripled our marketshare since Q302. We are pleased to announce excellent wins across key industries in the region including lucrative contracts with Unilever Mashreq in Egypt and the Intercontinental Hotel in Riyadh," confirmed Christoph Schell, General Manager, Personal Systems Group, HP Middle East.

"HP's 'everything is possible' philosophy has allowed us to provide pioneering consumer-friendly handheld technologies, capturing the spectrum of mobile users who demand autonomy, productivity and security at all times," Schell added.

In August, HP Middle East introduced five new iPAQ Pocket PC models, including models targeted at the consumer market. The introductions filled out HP's Pocket PC portfolio to meet the needs of both enterprises and consumers - and that made a solid impact in the third quarter. In addition, HP was the first major Pocket PC vendor to successfully ship Windows Mobile 2003 upgrade software for Pocket PC.