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I agree that the standard PDA is a dying breed, but a lot of people still use them. A recent survey shows that Pocket PC phones are on the attack, but the Pocket PC stand alone is still winning.

In fact, the DVD just took over the VHS according to Engadget. Hell, I didn’t think anyone still had a VHS player. :)

SPB Software has done a survey each of the last three years and I gotta like the results of the question asking their current Pocket PC.

Here are the results for the last 3 years….

• 2004 – HP iPaq h22xx Series 17%, HP iPaq h41xx Series 9%, Dell Axim X5 6%, Dell Axim X30 6%……
• 2005 – Dell Axim X50v 12%, HP iPaq h4700 Series 8%
• 2006 – Dell Axim X51v 11%, Dell Axim X50v 5%

"Definitely the year 2006 was a year of the phone edition devices and mobile Internet.

• The number of people who use their Pocket PC as a phone has increased from 14% in 2004 and 35% in 2005, to 56% in 2006.
• Although most people still use their Pocket PCs as an organizer (85% in 2004 vs. 84% in 2006) the second and the third frequently reported usages have been changed from games and music in 2004 to web (73%) and emails (63%) in 2006. "

If you are interested in reading more results from this survery, click here

Spb Software House Announces the Results of the Third Spb Pocket PC Survey

December 22th, 2006 — Spb Software House, the leading Pocket PC software developer, announces the results of the third "Spb Pocket PC Survey", a global survey for Pocket PC users. We would like to thank all the survey participants. The results of this survey will help to understand Pocket PC users and their needs better.

The end of the year is a good time to look at what are the main changes that happened in the Pocket PC world in 2006 compared to the 2005 and 2004 years. The results of the survey show some very expected and some not so expected changes in the way people use Pocket PC devices.

Here are some expected changes in accessories that people use for their Pocket PC devices:

• Fewer people buy additional WiFi cards (23% in 2004 vs. only 15% in 2006). This is an expected change because more and more new Pocket PC devices have built-in WiFi capability.
• The average storage card size people buy has increased more than 3 times during the last 2 years (341M in 2004 vs. 1.2G in 2006).
• MiniSD and MicroSD formats become more popular while CF cards share is decreasing.
• Number of people who buy Bluetooth speakerphones has more than doubled during the last 2 years. This result is related to the fact that more and more people use their Pocket PC as a phone.
• Although now more new devices have built-in GPS, the number of people who buy GPS accessories is still increasing (30% in 2004 vs. 39% in 2006).

Some changes in the results are related to the new Pocket PC platform: Windows Mobile 5. Thus almost two times fewer people sync over WiFi than a year ago (18% in 2005 vs. 10% in 2006). It is a very expected result because this feature was removed from the latest version of Microsoft ActiveSync.

Another change related to Windows Mobile 5 and persistent storage technology we expected to see was the decreasing number of people who backup their data. But quite interesting is that despite of the persistent storage that now all Windows Mobile 5 devices provide, people did not stop to backup their devices (80% in 2004 vs. 79% in 2006). And since more OEMS do not include backup programs in their devices, the number of people who use the 3rd-party backup programs has increased from 13% in 2004 to 28% in 2006.

Definitely the year 2006 was a year of the phone edition devices and mobile Internet.

• The number of people who use their Pocket PC as a phone has increased from 14% in 2004 and 35% in 2005, to 56% in 2006.
• Although most people still use their Pocket PCs as an organizer (85% in 2004 vs. 84% in 2006) the second and the third frequently reported usages have been changed from games and music in 2004 to web (73%) and emails (63%) in 2006.

PocketPC devices become more and more popular and we expect that the year of 2007 should bring us even more interesting changes.

Further Information and Downloads

• The full results of the Spb Pocket PC Survey 2006 are available at:
  http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/about/pressreleases/docs/spbsurvey2006.html
• The full results of the Spb Pocket PC Survey 2005 are available at:
  http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/about/pressreleases/docs/spbsurvey2005.html
• The full results of the Spb Pocket PC Survey 2004 are available at:
  http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/about/pressreleases/docs/spbsurvey2004.html

About Spb Software House

Spb Software House is a software development company, specializing mainly in Windows Mobile software for Pocket PCs. Founded in 1999, the company offers advanced software solutions for use in a wide range of applications.

Chris Leckness (3531 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.