TOKYO (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp Chief Executive Michael Dell said on Monday the company would launch a personal digital assistant (PDA) in the United States soon but saw limited near-term growth opportunities in that market.

``It's not nearly at the strategic importance for us of servers and storage or services, but it is a developing market -- a relatively small market today,'' the head of the world's largest personal computer vendor told a news conference in Tokyo.

``There are many different competing standards but we do see some momentum in the (Microsoft Corp) Pocket PC standard, and if you stay tuned in the press I think you'll see some announcements coming from Dell fairly soon, at least in the United States.''

He gave no specific time frame for the launch, but added: ``It's a market for us in the future.''

The company recently indicated it would expand into the printer and handheld computer markets, where it is expected to apply its renowned low-cost business model to cut prices and grab market share.

Dell stressed, however, the company's target of eventually doubling revenues would depend heavily on expanding in computer servers, data storage and services.

He gave no date for achieving the revenue target.

The chief executive was in Japan to unveil a compact desktop computer, half the size of its previously smallest model and little bigger than a large hard-cover book, which will initially target the space-conscious Japanese market.

Hiroshi Hamada, head of Dell's Japan unit, said the company aims to become Japan's fourth-largest PC vendor by the end of the year, after surpassing IBM Japan in the first half to take the number-five spot.

He added the company would be launching networking and printer products in Japan next year.

Market researcher MultiMedia Research Institute Ltd said last week Dell's market share in Japan in the first half of this year had risen to 7.7 percent, not far behind number-four Toshiba Corp's 8.0 percent.

In the PDA market, Dell added that a move to products with wireless communications was inevitable.

``It's pretty clear these devices will all become wireless, even though the vast majority today are not,'' he said.