- Despite a comparatively dismal global PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) market, price cuts and new model launches by brand-name vendors delivered record-high shipment volume to the Taiwanese PDA industry in the third quarter of 2003. Shipments grew 20.9% sequentially to reach approximately 1.6 million units. This increase follows on 46.7% year on year growth in shipment volume during the first half of 2003, totaling roughly 2.4 million units.

However, as brand-name vendor sales rebounded and outsourcing to Taiwanese makers has increased, growth in Taiwanese PDA shipment value and ASP (Average Selling Price) has not kept pace. Low-priced models have maintained a certain base in the maturing PDA industry, especially with the heightened price competition brought on by Dell's entry in 2002. Additionally, a slight decline in component prices have lowered hardware costs, bringing ASP down to US$177, a 24.9% drop from the US$235 seen in the first half of 2002. Shipment value has thus remained level from 2002 at US$287.5 million. High-priced PDA phone models have also seen a slight decline in price; added that the shipment scale of such PDAs continues to be low, the impact on shipment value is limited even though product mix is becoming more heavily weighted toward value-added models.

In the fourth quarter of 2003 shipment volume is expected to continue growing due to holiday demand in the primary PDA markets of the US and Europe. Furthermore, growing orders from European carriers and channel players are anticipated to drive a climb in the share of PDA phone; however, supply of components such as TFT LCD panel is tight, which is likely to impinge on Taiwanese maker shipments. At the same time makers are holding big expectations for Smartphones and are likely to transfer R&D and manufacturing activities to such models, which also threatens to impact PDA shipment volume.