According to IDC, the mobile device market (smartphones and PDAs) in Western Europe grew by 38% during Q3 2004, with over 1.8 million units shipped during Q3 2004 compared to 1.3 million units in Q3 2003. The market was mainly driven by shipments of Series 60-based smartphones, although, as forecast by IDC last quarter, RIM Blackberry sales continued to grow strongly, exceeding 120,000 units in Western Europe and adding significant impetus to the data-centric device category.
Despite vendors withdrawing from the market and a slow quarter from palmOne, the standalone PDA market continued to grow, albeit at a modest 4%. Market highlights include the growing importance of low-cost Pocket PC vendors including Yakumo, Medion, Anubis, and Mitac, and the high attach rates of in-car navigation GPS bundles.
IDC Western European Mobile Device Shipments, Q3 2004
| Form factor | 3Q04 | Share | 3Q03 | Share | Growth |
| Handheld devices | 544,750 | 30% | 524,015 | 39% | 4% |
| Converged devices | 1,301,340 | 70% | 811,470 | 61% | 60% |
| Total mobile devices | 1,846,090 | 100% | 1,335,485 | 100% | 38% |
| Source: IDC, 2004 | |||||
IDC Western European Mobile Device Vendor Shares, Q3 2004
| Vendor | 3Q04 | Share | 3Q03 | Share | Growth |
| Nokia | 821,535 | 45% | 571,200 | 43% | 44% |
| HP | 201,990 | 11% | 178,890 | 13% | 13% |
| Sony Ericsson | 150,015 | 8% | 123,750 | 9% | 21% |
| palmOne | 138,900 | 8% | 165,800 | 12% | -16% |
| RIM | 121,260 | 7% | 30,000 | 2% | 304% |
| Others | 412,390 | 22% | 265,845 | 20% | 55% |
| Totals | 1,846,090 | 100% | 1,335,485 | 100% | 38% |
| Source: IDC, 2004 | |||||