Western European Mobile Devices Forecast and Analysis, 2003-2008 Update

This IDC study examines the performance of the smart handheld devices market in Western Europe during the first part of 2004 and examines the outlook for 2003–2008. Forecasts are available by form factor, price band, operating system, display, RAM class, segment, channel, and 16 Western European countries. Examining the market reality of 2003, this study offers in-depth analysis on current and future market trends along with key recommendations and guidance for vendors and enterprises. During the first six months of 2004 the Western European smart handheld device (SHD) market, which includes handheld devices and converged devices, increasing to 2.18 million units representing an overall annual growth of 27% over the same period in 2003. Despite the market diverging into two camps handheld device (traditional standalone PDAs) and converged devices (phone enabled PDAs and smart phones) — there remain challenges and opportunities for both segments.

"The vast majority of voice-centric converged devices, especially Series 60, are sold to consumers that have little knowledge or interest in their advanced capabilities," said Andrew Brown, program manager, European Mobile Devices, IDC. "While in itself this may not necessarily be a problem, vendors and operators will start to reconsider their stance if the investment in converged device hardware and software does not lead to increased revenues. At the moment, integrating an open OS device into an operator or vendor's own services and applications can be problematic — strict APIs and a lack of flexibility increase development costs, and this been cited as the reason behind the long delays in device releases."