Enterprises Must Face Shift From PDAs To Smartphones

A market study last week showed that last quarter, for the first time ever, PDAs based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform outsold Palm OS handhelds.

Thats a big deal because the Palm platform dominated the PDA market starting with the introduction of the first PalmPilot the mid-90sa. A couple of years ago, though, PDAs based on the Microsoft platform started taking serious divots out of the Palm OS, particularly in the enterprise.

That shift wasn't so surprising. Windows dominates the enterprise and IT managers like consistency. Also, Microsoft has a history of entering markets late and muscling its way to the top. Just ask Netscape, Novell, or WordPerfect.

There's much more to this story, though, if you read between the lines. Theres another, more profound trend at work: a shift away from PDAs to smartphones.

This larger trend lessens the impact of Microsoft's accomplishment in the PDA sector as Microsoft has only recently started gaining any traction for its smartphone platform. That arena is dominated by Symbian, which enjoys the same kind of same huge worldwide lead that the Palm OS once held.But make no mistake: Symbian is not Palm—or Netscape, Novell, or any of the host of other companies that Microsoft has vanquished. Symbian is smart, strong, and well-connected. Its co-owners include major smartphone vendors, including Nokia, most of whom have shown no interest in the Microsoft smartphone platform.

But the competitive situation is even more complex than that. For one thing, while Symbian dominates smartphones worldwide, it hasn't yet made much headway in the U.S. The leading smartphone here—palmOne's Treo 600—is based on the Palm OS. Of course there also are persistent rumors, which palmOne has declined to deny, that there soon will be a Windows Mobile Treo.

IT shops that are mobilizing enterprise applications and buying (and supporting) mobile devices have no choice but to try and sort out this confusing horse race. Platform consistency is important, but so, too, are issues such as the number of available applications and easy-to-use development environments. In those areas, the Palm and Symbian smartphone platforms are as strong or stronger than Microsoft's. Microsoft may not be able to easily overcome those advantages, so this confusing mobile platform race could run for years to come.