Weak Symbian results suggest workers prefer laptops, PDAs
- Reduce text size Decrease text size
- Increase text size Increase text size
- Print article Print
- Jump to comments Comment
- Share this article Share
- Email article to a friend Email
Smartphone software company Symbian has reported a surprise fall in revenues in a sign that mobile workers still prefer to use laptops or PDAs.
21 November 2003 Symbian, the smartphone operating system company, has reported a surprise fall in revenues – in a sign that the world's growing army of mobile workers still prefer to use wireless laptop computers and PDAs.
The London-based company – whose shareholders include the world's biggest handset manufacturers, such as Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola – said that turnover in its third quarter dropped 6% to £9.4 million from the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, the fall was even sharper, at 21%.
Royalty payments that Symbian collects from licensees of the eponymous smartphone operating system also fell sharply quarter-on-quarter, by 24% to just £4.4 million. At the same time, revenue from consulting services dropped 8% sequentially to £4.5 million.
Symbian CEO David Levin brushed off the disappointment, pointing out that more than one million Symbian-based devices had been shipped for the third quarter in a row. "Symbian has continued to make good progress," he said.
However, analysts say that Symbian's failure to build on past growth is disappointing for a company with a virtual monopoly in its market. According to some estimates, Symbian has as much as a 94% share of the smartphone operating system market.
Moreover, continued strong growth in sales of wireless laptops and PDAs suggests that many of the new breed of mobile workers have still to be convinced to make the switch to smartphones.
Evidence emerged earlier this week when Hewlett-Packard (HP) reported strong third quarter results. HP reported 53% year-on-year growth in its notebook and handheld business. And revenues from its Personal Systems division, of which mobile devices are part, jumped 19% to $6 billion.
Symbian executives say that smartphones will be the number-one choice for mobile workers once cellular networks have been upgraded to support faster data speeds.
