| WindowsForDevices year-end review: Top market research reports of 2006 |
(Dec. 21, 2006)
JANUARY
SMARTPHONE GROWTH SIGNIFICANT, BUT RISKS REMAIN
The smartphone market grew over 70 percent in 2005 and will grow significantly during the next five years, according to In-Stat. However, the high-end devices risk being perceived as "very expensive feature phones" if users don't download the applications required to make the devices more useful than their lower-priced counterparts. Details
FEBRUARY
WINDOWS CE TOPS RECORD ANNUAL PDA SHIPMENTS
The worldwide PDA market hit a new high in 2005, Gartner reports. Annual shipments were 14.9 million, up 19 percent over 2004, and surpassing the previous record of 13.2 million set in 2001. Additionally, Windows CE remained the top PDA operating system, accounting for nearly half of all PDA shipments. Details
MICROSOFT TO LEAD IN ADVANCED MOBILE PHONES BY 2010
By 2010, Windows Mobile will overtake both Symbian and Linux in the market for advanced mobile phone OSes, according to a report from The Diffusion Group (TDG). Symbian currently has 51 percent of the market, while Windows Mobile claims 17 percent and Linux 23 percent. Details
ANALYST SEES SMARTPHONE MARKET DOUBLING IN 2006
Smartphones will advance beyond early adopters and into the mainstream in 2006, doubling their shipment volumes to around 123 million units and attaining 15 percent of the worldwide mobile phone market, ABI Research forecasts. Additionally, while Symbian continues to be the market leader, Windows Mobile and Linux are gaining ground. Details
MARCH
WINDOWS DOMINATES $6B NORTH AMERICAN POS MARKET
Shipments of PC-based point-of-sale (POS) systems in North America grew 5 percent in 2005 to nearly $6 billion, market analyst IHL reported Wednesday. Microsoft's Windows operating systems continued their POS market dominance, representing 71 percent of 2005's POS terminal shipments, IHL said. Details
APRIL
WINDOWS DOMINATES GROWING EMEA POS MARKET
Shipments of point-of-sales/service systems in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region grew four percent during 2005 despite struggling European economies, IHL Consulting Group reports. Windows continued to dominate the market with 76 percent share, while Linux increased its small share by 21.4 percent year-over-year. Details
MARKET ANALYST PREDICTS SLOW UMPC MARKET GROWTH
Market analyst In-Stat thinks the UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) market will only reach 7.8 million units by 2011, despite support from industry heavyweights Microsoft and Intel. UMPCs overcome the computing limitations of handheld devices such as PDAs and smartphones, while simultaneously addressing the mobility constraints of PCs, In-Stat notes. Details
NON-PHONE HANDHELD MARKET FREE-FALL PERSISTS
The worldwide market for handheld devices without cellphone capabilities continued its contraction in the first quarter of 2006, posting its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline, IDC reports. Worldwide shipments for Q1-06 totaled 1.5 million units, down 22.3 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Details
JUNE
WINDOWS CE, XP EMBEDDED RANK HIGH IN EMBEDDED OS SURVEY
Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded are among the top three most-used commercially-supplied embedded operating systems, according to an annual survey conducted by CMP Media. Additionally, the two Microsoft "Windows Embedded" operating systems -- Windows CE and Windows XP Embedded -- combine to make Microsoft the number-one embedded OS vendor. Details
CONVERGED HANDSETS BECOMING IRRESISTIBLE
Annual shipments of "converged" handsets -- devices combining cellular and WiFi wireless will exceed 132 million units by 2010, In-Stat forecasts. Carriers have been reluctant to offer WiFi-capable handsets for several reasons, but WiFi has now "spread so fast that they will not be able to resist much longer." Details
VISUAL STUDIO MOST WIDELY USED IDE, SURVEY SAYS
Microsoft Visual Studio remains the most widely used IDE (integrated development environment) among software developers, Evans Data Corp. reports. Additionally, Evans praises Microsoft's tool quality. Details
JULY
SMARTPHONES INDISPENSABLE, USERS SAY
Market research firm In-stat reports that more users of smartphones describe their devices as essential to business than the users of PDAs or laptops. The market analyst cautions, however, that this will not immediately automatically translate into widespread replacement of PDAs and laptops by smartphones. Details
AUGUST
NON-PHONE HANDHELD MARKET DECLINE CONTINUES
The non-phone handheld device market entered its tenth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline in Q2-2006, IDC reports. Specifically, 1.4 million units shipped worldwide in Q2, down 26.3 percent from Q2-2005, and 2.9 million units shipped during the first half of 2006, down 21.4 percent from the same period last year. Details
SEPTEMBER
SMARTPHONE MARKET TAKES OFF
Worldwide shipments of converged mobile devices achieved record shipments of 19.3 million units in Q2 of 2006, a 42.1 percent year-over-year gain, IDC reported on Sept. 12. For the entire year, shipments of the devices are expected to reach nearly 100 million units. Details
OCTOBER
VDC NOTES MINI-ITX'S "SURPRISING" RISE IN SBC MARKET
It's official: mini-ITX is making a "huge splash" in the single-board computer (SBC) market, according to embedded-industry analyst firm VDC. Sales of the small, low-power, low-heat boards with rich PC I/O have grown at a compound annual rate of 22.5 percent over the last four years. Details
SMARTPHONE/PDA MARKET CONTINUES GROWTH
Total worldwide smartphone and PDA shipments rose 57 percent in the first half of 2006 relative to the first half of 2005, reaching 42.1 million units, according to Gartner. Smartphone shipments grew 75.5 percent, accounting for 34.7 million units, while PDA shipments grew 5.7 percent, accounting for 7.4 million units. Details
CONVERGED MOBILE DEVICE MARKET CONTINUES GROWTH
Converged mobile device shipments in Q3 grew 19.2 percent year-over-year in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) market, Canalys reports. HTC, with its broad line of Windows Mobile devices, was the fastest growing vendor, and Palm's Windows Mobile-based Treo 700v is expected to show strong growth in the coming months. Details
NOVEMBER
TRADITIONAL PDA MARKET DECLINE PERSISTS
Worldwide shipments of non-converged handheld devices (PDAs) shrank to just 1.1 million units in Q3 of 2006, IDC reports. The analyst firm attributes the 15.4 percent drop from the prior quarter
marking the 11th straight quarter of year-over-year decline
to a lack of new devices. Details
WINDOWS MOBILE GAINS MARKETSHARE IN GROWING SMARTPHONE MARKET
Unit sales of smartphones nearly tripled between 2004 and 2005, but growth slowed to around 50 percent in the first half of 2006 over the first half of 2005, In-Stat reports. Additionally, Windows Mobile grabbed U.S. marketshare to match that of BlackBerry and Palm during the first half of 2006. Details
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