Compaq Doubles Share of Hand-Held Market

Compaq Computer Corp. doubled its share of the hand-held-computer market last quarter, narrowing the gap with industry leader Palm Inc., said Gartner Inc.’s Dataquest research unit.

Compaq gained ground by selling its devices to companies that buy them in bulk for their employees.

Compaq’s market share rose to 16% in the second quarter from 7.8% in the first. Palm’s share fell to 32% from 50% as the number of Palm organizers shipped dropped by half. Handspring Inc.’s market share fell to 10.7% from 15.9%, as shipments fell 47%.

Compaq shares fell 25 cents to close at $15.60 on the NYSE. Palm shares fell 12 cents to $5.24, and Handspring fell 12 cents to $3.82, both on Nasdaq.