New Consumer Data Reveals Who is Buying and Why
PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, October 11, 2001
- According to
leading market information provider NPD INTELECT®
Market Tracking, retail personal digital assistant (PDA) unit sales
in the U.S. grew by 11.9 percent in August 2001. This figure
compares to a 207.5 percent increase in unit sales for August 2000.
The 11.9 percent total was the worst growth performance of the year
even though average selling prices (ASP) have fallen to $248 from
$283 the year prior.
During the month of August, the unit market share for Palm OS-based
devices remained stable with 82.5 percent of the retail market.
Dollar share for Palm devices fell slightly, to 78.5 percent in
August as average prices dropped to $236 from $254 in July. At the
same time, on the strength of aggressive price cutting, Pocket PC-based
products grew from 10.2 percent of sales in July to 13 percent in
August, a two year high. Pocket PC manufacturers, in preparation for
the introduction of their new OS in early October, began cutting
prices sharply, with selling prices falling to $380 in August from
$470 the month prior.
Table 1: Handheld Unit Share and Average Selling Price by
Manufacturer
| |
Unit Share
Aug 2001 |
Unit Growth
Aug 2001 vs. Aug 2000 |
Average Selling Price August 2001 |
Average Selling Price Aug 2001 vs.
Aug 2000 |
| Palm |
51.2% |
-16.7% |
$242 |
-12.0% |
| Handspring |
19.5% |
14.9% |
$194 |
-15.7% |
| Sony |
10.4% |
N/A |
$275 |
N/A |
| Compaq |
8.3% |
28.5% |
$418 |
-15.7% |
| Casio |
4.3% |
177.9% |
$132 |
-45.5% |
"Despite the modest unit increase, August was not a blockbuster
month for handhelds," says Stephen Baker, senior hardware analyst
for NPD INTELECT. "Unit growth appears to be driven by substantial
price reductions taken by both Compaq and Handspring, and not by
seasonal factors."
Palm led the market with a 51.2 percent market share, its lowest
of the year. Handspring and Compaq gained ground with aggressive
pricing tactics and Sony’s increasingly diverse product line
performed very strongly. The Palm M100 was the best-selling handheld
for the fourth month in a row and the top four models were all from
Palm.
In addition to sales data, NPD INTELECT also made available, for
the first time, consumer data which provides insight into the buying
habits of handhelds.
According to the survey results from NPD’s Online Panel, which
consists of more than 600,000 panelists, over 70 percent of PDA
purchasers were men between the ages of 25-54. Survey results also
revealed that brand was the number one factor in deciding which
handheld to purchase.
Table 2: Top 5 Reasons for Purchasing one PDA Over Another
|
It's a brand I trust |
31% |
|
It has the latest
technology |
19.5% |
|
Product had the
features I wanted |
12.9% |
|
Recommended by a
friend or relative |
10.3% |
|
The brand is a good
value for the money |
10% |
Commenting on the new consumer data, Baker said, "This reaffirms
advertising efforts by manufacturers to focus on brand when touting
their products
|
