A decline in shipments following the holiday quarter is expected of mature markets, and the handheld devices market is no different. After nine consecutive quarters of year-over-year decline, many are wondering how long this trend will continue, and whether the market will see a reverse.
RIM, as a phone with email push capabilities on top of scheduling and other functions, is a very attractive value proposition compared to handhelds that lack some capabilities. This is a mature market; beyond PIM, we haven't seen any new function for handhelds bring a really broad return-no new killer app.
The combination of tremendous competition from converged mobile devices with waning consumer demand for handhelds is forcing manufacturers to search for new or improved solutions that leverage existing hardware and software capabilities.
Last year, quarterly mobile phone shipments didn't reach 200 million units until the end of the fourth quarter when vendors were keeping the channels' shelves stocked for the holiday rush. As vendors announced new products earlier this year and accelerated their time to market, we've already reached this milestone.
After nine consecutive quarters of year-over-year decline, many are wondering how long this trend will continue and whether the market will see a reverse.
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