InternetWeek: PDAs are moving toward irrelevance, a new study by In-Stat released this week says. [...] The devices are entering a stage of serious decline.

In-Stat reported that PDA shipments in 2004 were only 8.7 million, compared to 10 million in 2003. The study predicted a negative annual growth rate of 21.5 percent through 2009. After that time, PDAs will be sold only for specific vertical markets, according to the study. As a result, In-Stat said, the PDA will soon stop being considered a major product segment.

The report attributed the decline of PDAs to increased sales of devices such as smartphones and portable media players, which it described as a "natural evolution" of the PDA.

That last sentence in bold is my emphasis. More evidence of the market shift that's taking place as more feature-rich mobile devices start to emerge, combining cellular telephony, digital media and PDA capability. Fuel for podcasting growth, for instance, as I mentioned recently.

Maybe my mobile device wish list could be closer to reality than I first expected - take a look at the Nokia 7710 smartphone that Guillaume is trying out.

Link: PDAs Becoming Irrelevant, Study Says