A new report from ChangeWave Research found sales of e-mail-capable PDAs have “nearly ground to a halt” while smartphone sales are up.

ChangeWave regularly surveys a group of over 5,000 IT professionals responsible for corporate purchases. These individuals are also early-adopter consumers, and their buying habits are monitored as early trend predictors, said a ChangeWave spokesman. The study of 2,040 professionals found that “hybrid” PDAs that perform e-mail (but not telephony) have declined in proportion to the rise in smartphone sales. Companies like HP in Australia are struggling to off load PDA stock.

Since June, ownership of smartphones among respondents has increased by a third to 12 percent, while ownership of hybrid PDAs dropped by more than half to 3.3 percent.

In terms of brand share, Palm had a 28 percent share of smartphones owned by the IT professionals, down 2 percent.It held a slim 1 percentage point lead over Research in Motion (RIM) with a 27 percent share, up 3 percent.Motorola increased its share since June by 5 percent, to 11 percent. The study found that more respondents owned a Hewlett-Packard hybrid PDA than Palm PDAs, with HP’s share increasing by 8 percent since June, to 29 percent, and Palm’s share up 5 percent, to 25 percent.Dell’s share was up two percent to 18 percent, and RIM saw a dramatic loss in share of 50 percent, down to 15 percent.

For those who planned to purchase a product in the next 90 days, 7.3 percent said they would buy a smartphone, compared to 1.2 percent who said they would buy a hybrid PDA. Of those planning to buy smartphones, Palm is the top choice for 26 percent of the respondents, but its share dropped 5 percent since June. RIM, with 16 percent, is in second place and gained 2 percent.Motorola gained 5 percent to 13 percent in terms of planned purchases, said ChangeWave.