ABI Research Forecasts Ruggedized Mobile Device Market to Reach $9.2 Billion by 2011.

LONDON -- A new study from ABI Research finds that the semi-ruggedized notebook category is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of over 16% between 2006 and 2011. It is expected to be one of the major drivers for the overall growth in the ruggedized mobile device market, alongside traditional product categories such as mobile phones, PDAs, tablet PCs, and fully ruggedized notebook PCs.

Principal analyst Stuart Carlaw says, "The combination of rugged features in more consumer-grade mobile devices is at the very core of product differentiation and the growing need to cater for field force enablement." He goes on to add that, "Although this move to semi-ruggedized products is very profound, it must be recognized that the market for fully ruggedized products in traditional vertical markets such as oil and gas, mining, and the military will continue to be strong. Moreover, there will growth for these products in not so traditional markets in the emergency services, utilities, and health care."

The study found that the recent acquisition of Symbol by Motorola stands to provide the combined company with a market share nearly equal to that of the market leader, Panasonic, although it must be recognized that the two companies are very separate in terms of the markets they address. It looks clear that Panasonic will remain the de facto market leader in the notebook arena while Motorola/Symbol has built a very strong position in the handheld/mobile area.

"Ruggedized Mobile Devices"

(http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/Ruggedized_Mo bile_Devices), analyzes the demand drivers for ruggedized mobile computing devices in light of price constraints and feature sets embodied in ruggedized mobile phones, PDAs, handhelds, laptops, notebooks, and more. It includes forecasts segmented by form factor, region, vertical market, air interface, and market share, and presents profiles of all the leading vendors in this market. It forms part of ABI Research's Mobile Devices Research Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Devices_Research_S ervice), which also includes Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, Online Databases, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.

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