Worldwide Handheld Device 2008-2012 Forecast and Analysis

This IDC study presents the five-year forecast for worldwide handheld device shipments. The handheld device market, as currently constituted, will continue to decline as users transition to other devices that meet their needs. Handheld device vendors, hard-pressed to remain within this market, will either decrease shipment volumes or withdraw from the market altogether. Despite this dour outlook, there will remain a group of loyal users and vendors that will keep the market alive, but at a steadily decreasing rate over time. One major consideration for the handheld device market is convergence and how other devices using the architecture of handheld devices, namely portable media devices and mobile Internet devices, have begun to gain salience in the marketplace. IDC is paying close attention to how these factors are playing out and what they mean for the handheld device market.

"In 2007, the market lost a key player ? Dell ? and other vendors also decided to leave," points out Ramon Llamas, a senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Device Technology and Trends team. "This has left a smaller list of players and shipment volumes than in years past. But our conversations with the remaining vendors reveal that they have not given up, and they cite continued demand from their most devoted clients. As such, IDC believes that the market will continue in the years to come."