Research company Gartner says global PDA sales were up 18.4 percent last year, with BlackBerry maker Research in Motion leading the charge and market inventor Palm taking it in the shorts.
A total of 17.7 million handheld computers hit the streets in 2006, with 10 million of them running Windows Mobile, the first time Microsoft has had the bulk of the market.
RIM sales climbed 10 percent to 3.5 million units, while Palm sales dropped 29 percent to 2.8 million units and HP was down 24.1 percent to 3.1 million units.
The survey methodology draws some seemingly arbitrary distinctions between PDAs and smartphones, with BlackBerry 7100 and Pearl models and Palm Treos excluded from the tally but the T-Mobile Sidekick in the mix.
