Dell is dropping its Axim handheld line in a move that will hasten the disappearance of the standalone PDA industry and point the way forward to growth in converged voice/data devices.

The PC giant has confirmed that the latest Axim X51 product family, introduced in 2005, is no longer available for direct sale and there are no plans for a successor.

“Dell has no immediate plans to offer a follow-on product to the Axim X51 family,” a spokesman wrote in an email. “While the Axim X51 has been removed from Dell.com, an assortment of third-party handhelds including GPS devices and unlocked smartphones from leading manufacturers that feature the latest technology are available. However, Dell will provide technical and warranty support for Axim and Dell-branded Axim peripherals per the terms defined in the applicable customer's support agreement and warranty agreements.”

The Axim line has been well reviewed and market watchers suggest its release in 2002 had a significant role in bringing down prices of Microsoft-based PDAs, and in introducing high-end features such as Wi-Fi.

However, the PDA market is being eroded by smartphones that build in telephony and are often sold at a heavy discount against voice/data tariffs.

PDA-style functionality is increasingly being built into other gadgets, such as MP3 players and GPS route planners, and low-end laptops are now available for a few hundred pounds, offering far more functions. Palm, the company credited with creating the modern PDA market, has successfully moved into smartphones and has recently been linked with a sale.

The exit from the PDA sector could pave the way for Dell to move into smartphones in the same way that Apple plans to do with the iPhone.

“Dell getting out of PDAs was the most unsurprising piece of news this year,” said Andrew Brown, programme manager for mobile devices at analyst firm IDC.

“People don’t want standalone solutions anymore and with shipments declining the way they are, margins are getting smaller. The PDA is moving to being for niche vertical applications and firms like HP are moving on to converged devices.”

IDC said sales of PDAs in western Europe are expected to decline 16 percent in 2007.

The exit from the PDA sector could pave the way for Dell to move into smartphones in the same way that Apple plans to do with the iPhone. However, most analysts do not expect a near-term move.