Dell jumps into Chinese PDA market

Dell introduced three personal digital assistants to China yesterday, the company's first foray into the country with these products.

Prices range from US$243 to US$363 and all come with Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system, Intel Xscale processors, 64K of memory and wireless capabilities.

Although direct sales are still an anomaly in store-happy China, Dell has become one of the biggest sellers of PCs in the country. Dell remains among the fastest growing companies in the declining handhelds market.

Shipments of its Axim handheld grew 167 percent in the fourth quarter from the same time the year before (when it entered the market) and 21 percent from the third quarter, according to IDC. Overall handheld shipments declined by 17.9 percent in 2003.