Old devices turning on new smart phone converts

Even without a raft of whizz-bang new devices, smart phone makers are enjoying mushrooming sales.

According to analyst house IDC, shipments of smart phones more than doubled year-on-year, with the second quarter of 2005 seeing 2.7 million devices sold.

The analysts found that the growth isn't coming from manufacturers releasing a raft of new devices but from consumers upgrading to more functionality-laden phones. IDC also discovered that it is data, rather than voice, driving the transition, as smart phones make their way into the wider enterprise segment.

Nokia is still the smart phone colossus, boosting its market share to 57 per cent. Four other manufacturers - Acer, HP, Palm and SonyEricsson - are all trailing the Finnish giant with around five per cent market share each.

Consumer hunger for smart phones hasn't transferred across to PDAs, however. PDAs without wireless functions grew seven per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, with around 692,000 sold.