Palm took the top slot in European mobile device sales in Q4 2001, but the slot is less comfortable than it looks. Figures from research outfit Canalysis give Palm 34.1 per cent of the market, but the company benefited from "strong low-end sales during the Christmas period," and the Microsoft camp, in the shape of Compaq and HP, is breathing down its neck.

The increase in their shares, 13.7 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively, largely accounts for the fall in Palm's share from 41.6 per cent in Q4 2000; HP did particularly well on the back of PocketPC 2002 Jornadas.

Nokia, and Symbian in general, lost share. However the raw numbers mask the extent to which Nokia now dominates the nascent mobile communicator/smartphone market. Symbian OS devices shipped a total of 207,095 in Q4 2000, and 124,715 in Q4 2001. However, Psion is now out of that market, and even if some residual Psion sales remain in the 2001 figures, Symbian sales must now be overwhelmingly high ticket phones in the Nokia 9210 category.

Nokia sold 80,640 units in Q4 2001, i.e. two thirds of the total, which suggests that the other major Symbian phone vendor, Ericsson, has been stomped again. Total shipments across the sector were down 19 per cent on 2001. ®