Microsoft Corp."s software platform for personal digital assistants took over the market lead from PalmSource Inc. for the first time in the third quarter, according to market research released Friday. Microsoft"s Windows CE operating system accounted for 48.1 percent of the quarter"s 2.8 million PDA shipments worldwide, up from 41 percent the previous year, according to market research firm, Gartner Inc.
The Palm OS, developed by PalmSource, took a dramatically steep drop, representing 29.8 percent of the market, down from 46.9 percent in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected Microsoft to grab the market lead from the handheld pioneer this year, but did not expect the Palm OS decline to be so precipitous, said Todd Kort, a Gartner analyst.