While the soft economy worldwide has put a damper on the handheld device market, shipments are still set to increase by 43 per cent this year. It’s not quite the 88 per cent increase that vendors witnessed last year, but it’s strong enough to be optimistic about the market, according to a new report from research group International Data Corp. (IDC).
IDC estimates worldwide shipments of handheld devices will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39 per cent, from 13.6 million units shipped last year, to 70.9 million units in 2005, IDC said in the report, Hand Check: The Smart Handheld Devices Market Forecast and Analysis, 2000-2005.
The U.S. market is still by far the largest, accounting for 49 per cent of worldwide shipments in 2000, but the U.S. market will grow more slowly than the overall market, accounting for only 38 per cent of shipments by 2005, IDC said. The Asia-Pacific market, on the other hand, will show a CAGR of 60 per cent between 2000 and 2005.
IDC is a division of International Data Group Inc. (IDG), the parent company of the IDG News Service.
IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., can be reached at http://www.idc.com/.