Palm Expects Smartphone Market to Grow Nearly 100% in 2006
Argentina's smartphone market is expected to grow nearly 100% in 2006, US mobile computing company Palm country manager for Argentina Alejandro Guttero told BNamericas.
"We are seeing the local market is doubling in size every year," Guttero said.
The executive would not provide specific figures for Palm's penetration in the local smartphone market.
Palm has launched its Treo smartphone brand in Argentina, which combines a mobile phone with either a Palm or Windows mobile organizer.
Guttero also said the company expects smartphones to gradually replace PDAs (personal digital assistant) as smartphones combine telephony with PDA functionality.
"With convergence we have technology that combines mobile phones and a PDA in a single device," Guttero said.
Guttero said that the smartphone segment now accounts for 70% of the company's total revenues in the US.
In Argentina, mobile telephony operators Movistar, the local unit of Spain's Telefónica, CTI Móvil, owned by Mexico's América Móvil and Personal, the mobile unit of Telecom Argentina are currently offering the Treo smartphone.
In the PDA segment, the executive said Palm has nearly an 80% penetration worldwide, while in Argentina penetration is not far from that figure. According to the executive, Palm has nearly 360,000 PDA users in Argentina.
For the full fiscal year 2006, Palm reported worldwide revenues of US$1.6bn, up 24% from its FY05, BNamericas previously reported.
BNAmericas.com"
Posted to the site on 10th August 2006
