Hewlett-Packard is playing catch-up in the market for so-called ?'converged PDAs' with the release tomorrow of a new iPaq hand-?held device that includes voice ?capability.
HP's iPaq handhelds have long been popular with business users who need computing applications on the go.
But the United States company is a relative latecomer to the market for converged PDAs, which allow users to connect to a mobile-phone network to receive voice and data services.
In Asia, HP commands 32.2 per cent of the market for traditional PDAs, according to figures from market researcher IDC. However, its share for handheld devices with mobile-phone connectivity is just 8.3 per cent.
See Chin Teik, vice-president of consumer products and mobile business, denied the company had been late in recognising the shift towards PDAs with mobile-phone connectivity.
It has just two converged PDA devices in the Asian market so far, but will release a third - the iPaq hw6515 - tomorrow.