Users take smart call

The verdict is almost out -- bulky, highly-priced Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) will have to give way to smartphones. The figures are telling. Of the estimated 43 million units of converged devices (smartphones and PDAs) in 2006, India accounted for around 13 million -- 29 per cent.

However, the market for smartphones in India currently is nearly four times that of PDAs and experts say the gap will widen even as converged digital multimedia devices touch the predicted 250 million mark by 2008.

A PDA (priced between Rs 12,000-35,000) allows users to edit files, attachments, work with various email clients to access remote mail servers. Users, however, appear to be opting for voice-enabled, multi-tasking, multimedia-friendly smartphones (priced between Rs 10,000-20,000) that can handle videos, music files and allow users to view file attachments sent over emails.

"Features like camera, music, email are good enough for the majority of users," says Vineet Taneja, multimedia business director (India), Nokia, adding that users do rate the "aesthetics" of the device and multimedia features more highly than any data-centric functions bundled in high-end PDAs.

RIM -- which accounts for 6.5 per cent of the combined PDA and smartphone market "� too was forced to modify its frisbee-sized devices to an appealing handbag-proportioned Pearl.

PDAs, though, seem to click with enterprises. Gartner estimates the enterprise market to account for 52 per cent of all PDA shipments. "In India, the need of enterprises to go mobile could drive up the penetration of Windows mobile devices," reasons O2 country manager (APAC), M Nathar. Nathar.

He admits, however, to the trend of users flocking away from PDAs and picking up smartphones instead. On the other hand, Ajay Sharma, country manager, Dopod Communication (India) has no intention of writing PDAs out, He notes: "A PDA with a touch screen, third-party software and applications is bound to be on the higher side of the price mark up." Dopod is looking to lure the "entry-level PDA buyers and the SMBs".

Will this debate see smartphone and PDA prices fall? Nokia, with its 42 per cent share in the converged devices market, hopes to stabilise the prices with a product at every level. Says Chakrapani GK, country general manager (enterprise solutions), Nokia: "E-series has phones starting at Rs 11,000 and we will be adding more functionality to our line-up this year and there could be a vendor competition at the price front."

He adds: "Nokia will continue to look for ways to redefine the business phone category but it will be safe to say that smartphones (read N-series) appear to be Nokia's prima dona in the foreseeable future."

Not wanting to be burdened with unwanted bulk, software applications that are never used, Indian users are clearly steering towards the new generation smartphones.

And going forward, the smartphone segment too will have to overcome the challenge of selling the benefits of smartphones over less-expensive enhanced phones if they want to increase overall volumes further.