According to IDC's latest preliminary data, a strong fourth quarter boosted shipments to a record 2.6 million units in 2003, representing growth of 27.5%. Shipments for handhelds in Western Europe during 4Q03 grew to 958,000 units, a growth of 38% compared to the same period last year.

"Last quarter saw pocket PC vendors reap the rewards of an expanded retail presence, in-store marketing, and targeted promotions such as GPS and camera bundles," noted IDC senior analyst Tim Mui. "A consumer market drawn to attractive low-cost pocket PC offerings and a renewed interest in mobile solutions from large and medium enterprises helped pocket PC devices to overtake Palm OS based products in 2003."

"The healthy double-digit growth of the handheld market in both 4Q03 and for 2003 overall suggests that by pricing aggressively and offering attractive bundles such as GPS navigation systems it is possible for vendors to stimulate growth in the handheld market by creating demand through innovative marketing," commented Andrew Brown, program manager for mobile devices at IDC.

Table 1: IDC Western European Handheld Device Operating System Shares, 2003

Operating System	2003	% Share	2002	% Share	Growth
Windows Mobile	1,422,765	55.6%	819,330	41.0%	73.6%
Palm OS	1,038,590	40.6%	1,086,415	54.4%	-4.4%
Other	95,620	3.7%	91,815	4.6%	4.1%
Total	2,556,975		1,997,560		28.0%
Source: IDC, 2004

Table 2: IDC Western European Handheld Device Operating System Shares, 4Q03

Operating System	4Q03	% Share	4Q02	% Share	Growth
Windows Mobile	570,670	59.6%	222,835	32.2%	156.1%
Palm OS	372,990	38.9%	443,920	64.1%	-16.0%
Other	14,390	1.5%	26,300	3.8%	-45.3%
Total	958,050		693,055		38.2%
Source: IDC, 2004

Notes regarding the above tables:

• Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
  
• Handheld devices are pocket sized and are capable of synchronizing with desktop or laptop computers. Handheld devices are designed to access and manage data including office documents, multimedia, and games.
  
• Handheld devices do not include telephony but may include wireless capabilities that enable Internet access and text communication. These devices feature evolved operating systems or application environments such as the Palm OS, Pocket PC, Windows CE, Handheld PC 2000, and Linux or proprietary solutions and have the ability to download and run applications and store user data beyond their required PIM capabilities.

IDC's European Quarterly Handheld Tracker monitors vendor sales and market shares across a range of key European geographies.