palmOne takes a beating in Western Europe for Q2/04

[Alexander Turcic]

Handheld PC maker palmOne saw its share of Western Europe's PDA market plummet to 26% of units shipped during the second quarter of 2004, down from its previous market leading position with 37% share a year ago, according to the British institute Context Information Services, which tracks sales of technology hardware throughout Europe.

Context notes that palmOne is in a difficult position in Europe. On the one hand, its traditional low-end PDA market dominance and presence on retail outlet shelves has been undermined by HP's very successful low cost iPaq range, and on the other by companies such as Medion cashing in on the boom for cheap in-car PDA-based navigation devices. At the same time, palmOne's attempt to penetrate HP's corporate heartland with its range of business devices has not been successful.