Handheld sales climb: Dell's not done yet

Just last week the numbers confirmed a trend we've seen for some time: handhelds without phone capabilities weren't selling. Does that mean handheld sales in general are sliding? Not necessarily if you look at the recent industry sales numbers. According to Gartner, overall shipments increased 6.6% year to year. Traditional Palm sales were down, but offset by the popular Treo series. In fact, 20% of all Treos sold in the first quarter of 2006 were Treo 700w's, which bodes well for the new 700p that's expected soon. Of interesting note: Dell sold over 143,000 Axim handhelds, with the must popular model being the X51v; which just happens to be their most expensive unit. Personally, I think the rumors of Dell's withdrawal from the handheld market are a bit premature, but if they're planning for the long haul, they might want to partner with a cellular carrier now.

-kct