Led by strong growth by Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry shipments, worldwide personal digital assistant (PDA) shipments increased 6.6% in 2004 and reached record worldwide revenues of $4.3 bln, according to Gartner. In addition to RIM growth, PDA 2004 market drivers included a shift to higher-priced wireless-enabled PDAs and increased purchasing by business buyers.
44% of the devices shipped in 2004 offered integrated wireless area network (WAN) and/or wireless LAN (WLAN) connectivity. In Q4 of 2004, the average selling price of PDAs reached $353, up 9.4% from 2003. The higher ASP helped drive worldwide PDA revenue to a record $4.3 bln in 2004, a 16.7% increase from the year before, as reported by Tekrati.