IDC: Failure to communicate will doom PDAs

The market for stand-alone PDAs has been dropping steadily for several quarters, as consumers and businesses hold off on purchasing anything other than essential technology items, IDC said. In 2003, worldwide handheld shipments will decline 8.4% to 11.35 million units.

However, shipments of converged devices, which combine voice and data communications, will increase to about 13 million units by the end of 2003, IDC said. Nokia Corp. dominates the market for converged devices, shipping 1.2 million units in the second quarter, representing 61% of the market, according to IDC.