Have you walked into a superstore or browsed the Web lately to check out the latest handhelds? Shoppers have more choices than ever before, and these will only increase as more vendors jump into the handheld market. Why are buyers in this crowded market opting for Pocket PCs? Because they're demanding a host of features including expandability, rich application support, and the ability to go wireless—they want the whole enchilada!

EXPANSION CAPABILITIES AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS CRITICAL

Members of our Council were asked to rate the importance of eight features: price, size, weight, style, expandability, application support, multimedia support, and wireless communications support. The features were rated on a scale of one (Not at All Important) to five (Very Important) when deciding which handheld to buy. Two features stood out: expandability and wireless communications support. Expansion capabilities were rated as critical by Pocket PC users, who gave expandability a high 4.4 rating. Pocket PC users are looking to do more than basic PIM with their devices. Out of the box isn't good enough for many Pocket PC owners. They want the flexibility to add memory, connectivity, or a host of more specialized features like GPS and bar code scanning.

Wireless communications support is also critical. It was rated a strong 4.2. Pocket PC users are ahead of the pack when it comes to interest in wireless. This is despite the fact that most of them aren't currently using a wireless modem, much less a device like the Trium Mondo with an integrated wireless radio. Here, Pocket PC users are looking ahead to a wireless future. Wireless support will only grow in importance as networks and service providers begin to deliver useful content to Pocket PCs. If vendors can deliver well-designed devices that integrate wireless connectivity at a reasonable price, they will have a hit on their hands.

APPLICATION SUPPORT

Pocket PC users demand power and flexibility, and additional applications help provide that. Add to this the increasing number of specialized applications being developed or implemented by businesses, and it's easy to understand why they rated the need for application support an impressive 4.3. According to our survey, rich multimedia support isn't a critical feature. But games and MP3s would be a lot less interesting without a color screen and quality audio on the Pocket PC. Users are often running applications that take advantage of the devices' multimedia functionality and they care about the quality of that experience. Hence, Pocket PC users gave Multimedia Support a 3.4 rating compared to the weaker 3.0 rating our Council as a whole gave the feature. Pocket PC owners demand a lot from their devices, but they're also realists. They want their handhelds to be feature packed because they want to do more with their devices. As such, they're somewhat more willing to take on additional size and weight to get the features and functionality they want. More importantly, these owners rate price as less important to their purchase decisions than do users of other mobile devices. Pocket PC buyers are power users who'll pay more for devices that can match their ambitions. This is to be expected ­ premium products command premium prices. Ask the waiter at your local Mexican restaurant: the whole enchilada might not be cheap, but it's worth it.

The following is based on a survey of IDC's Mobile Advisory Council, conducted in June 2001. The items are ranked, on a scale of 1 to 5, from least important to most important features when the responders were considering purchasing handhelds. Over 1,000 mobile device users responded to this survey. 84 of those were Pocket PC users.