A number of weblogs, including Brighthand reported that PalmOS-based smartphones have 46 percent of the U.S. market, according to a study by the market-research firm NPD Group. This is primarily due to increased sales of the palmOne Treo 600, although the Samsung I500 and Kyocera 7135 are making an impact as well.

The overall platform breakdown is as follows:

• PalmOS 46%,
• Pocket PC Phone Edition 22%,
• Microsoft Smartphone 13%,
• Symbian OS 11%, and
• Linux 8%.

Figures in Europe are quite different, with Symbian leading the way.

I expect that the market share of Symbian-based phones will increase significantly in the near future. This because the Nokia 6600, the hottest smartphone in the world, is just becoming available in the USA.

Everybody that reads Operation Gadget knows that I am a big Treo fan, but I really think that the Nokia 6600 looks good. If I didn't feel that I needed the keyboard for email and SMS, I might want a 6600 as my primary phone. We'll see once I get my hands on an evaluation unit.