Metric: BlackBerry shipments jumped 76% in Q1

According to researcher Gartner, shipments of Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry handheld grew 76 percent in the first quarter to 711,000 units, making the BlackBerry the top selling handheld. Thanks to the continued growth of the BlackBerry, RIM is now the world's top PDA maker, accounting for 21 percent of the market. Traditional PDA leader, palmOne, dropped to No. 2 with sales declining 26 percent from a year ago. PalmOne is now the No. 2 handheld maker with 18 percent market share. Dell posted growth of 33 percent with 217,000 units shipped. On the software front, Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform is now the dominant PDA platform, accounting for 46 percent of the total handheld OS market.

Despite continued grumbling about the so-called "RIM tax," sales of the BlackBerry continue to soar. Meanwhile, palmOne continues to lose market share even though its Treo smart phone continues to post strong sales. Microsoft has emerged as the dominant player in the PDA software market, though the company's software still lags behind Symbian in the smart phone market.

For more the PDA market and BlackBerry's continued success:
- read this article from InfoWorld