Smart mobile devices shipments booming

Smart mobile devices include smart phones and handhelds. According to Canalys, the smart mobile devices market was booming in 1Q06 with about 55% more units shipped than a year ago. Almost 17m units were shipped worldwide, with Nokia leading the pack with about 52% market share and 8.6m units of its popular N-Series shipped. RIM is second with just below 10% market share, but reporting an exceptional 85% growth. Palm is third, in spite of falling sales in handhelds (-25%). Palm should introduce new models due out later this year. Mitsubishi and Sharp were very successful with their new FOMA smart phones in 1Q06, as well as Fujitsu and Sony Ericsson.