PDAs yield to smart phones and media players
By Maury Wright, Editor in Chief -- EDN, January 19, 2006
Few products that have enjoyed the volume-market success of the PDA have had such a short run when it comes to popularity. Palm Pilots went from being a novelty in 1997 to megahit status around the turn of the century. But the stand-alone PDA may just disappear before its 10th birthday. According to market-research company NPD Group, retail sales reached 3.68 million units in 2001 but dropped to fewer than 2 million in 2004. That plummet comes at a time when PDAs are more value-packed than ever. In 2000 and 2001, leading-edge units cost more than $500. Today, the entry-level $99 Palm Zire packs far more features, and even the $350 Tungsten that integrates wireless and multimedia support is a relative bargain.
Around 2000, it appeared that the PDA would usurp the mobile-phone function. Instead, tiny smart phones today include most of the functions that PDAs offer. Only a niche group of business-e-mail users insists on a BlackBerry or a Palm Treo phone in the PDA form factor. Many businesspeople and, certainly, consumers carry a music player and a phone but no PDA. Indeed, consumers increasingly use iPods and other hard-disk-equipped digital-media players to store and transport contacts, calendars, and even office data files, along with music, photos, and video.
