I need numbers and charts showing the rise and fall of Palm (see
http://www.palm.com) handheld devices, and the overall handheld market
since 1996.

Ideally, I would like to see, Palm unit sales, and sales of all
handhelds since 1996 to present on yearly or quarterly basis. It is my
understanding that Palm has declining total units and also maybe lost
marketshare in the last 2 years. I want some numbers to quantify the
total market and their position in it. I am interested in worldwide
sales, or at least USA.

I know that IDC publishes some reports of this, however they charge
quite a bit for the reports. I am curious what other information is
out there, and what maybe I can get cheaper through
answers.google.com. :)

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 20 Nov 2003 19:42 PST

I have not found anything tracking Palm sales from 1996 to the present.

Is this information useful?

http://www4.gartner.com/5_about/press_releases/pr27jan2003a.jsp

Hi! Thanks for the question.

It seems that we should make some things clear. In 1996, Palm was the
only player in the horizon with Microsoft just launching its Windows
CE device so market share was not the big deal here yet. I have
however estimates of Palm sales during those early years.

1996 ? 350,000 units sold

?Handhelds History Tour: the Palm?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mobile/display/palm_6.html


1997 ? 686,400 units sold (41.2% market share)
1998 ? 1,600,000 units sold (40.1% market share) 

?WinCE Catches Up With Palm?
http://www.activewin.com/articles/ce/article_5.shtml 


1999 ? 6,000,000 units sold (estimate) (68% market share)

?Handhelds History Tour: the Palm?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mobile/display/palm_6.html

?Historical Timeline?
http://www.palmone.com/us/company/corporate/timeline.html 


2000 ? 5,588,000 units sold (50.4% market share)
2001 ? 5,056,000 units sold (38.6% market share)

?market analysis - measuring market share?
http://www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/market_analysis_marketshare_measuring.asp


2002 - 4,438,730 units sold (36.8% market share)

?Gartner Dataquest Says Worldwide PDA Market Suffers Through a Dismal Year in 2002?
http://www4.gartner.com/5_about/press_releases/pr27jan2003a.jsp 


2003 (3rd Qtr) - 843,149 units sold (35.6% market share)

?Worldwide PDA sales to decline this year?
 http://homepage.mac.com/stzonis/iblog/B1223306473/C74852417/E2120596599/ 


So for better viewing here is a table I will make based on the figures above:

Years                     Units Sold                        Market Share %

1996                      350,000                                   
1997                      686,400                               41.2
1998                    1,600,000                               40.1
1999                    6,000,000                               68.0
2000                    5,588,000                               50.4
2001                    5,056,000                               38.6 
2002                    4,438,730                               36.8
2003                      843,149                               35.6

Search terms used:                              
Palm 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 ?market share? sales shipments
                     
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
                             
Thanks for visiting us.                             
                             
Regards,                             
Easterangel-ga                             
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 21 Nov 2003 06:19 PST

I have also made charts isualizing the table I made above. it is in an Excel file.

http://home.ripway.com/2003-9/26694/palm.xls

Thanks!