GPS-enabled smartphones putting squeeze on GPS makers
- Monday, 15 November 2010 11:22
"Would you like to upgrade your car with a GPS?"
"No thanks, I have my phone."
That was the exchange I had while renting a car recently (right after I declined an upgrade to a Hummer). It made me wonder whether sales of dedicated navigation devices were suffering thanks to smartphones with GPS capabilities. According to a new report from industry research firm Berg Insight, that is exactly what's happening—separate GPS devices may soon become a thing of the past as smartphones and in-dash systems take over.
According to Berg Insight, the penetration of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) is already quite high in Europe and North America, and sales increases in new areas aren't likely to be enough to offset the future decline in these larger markets. (In fact, Europe is already on the decline, though North America is still growing.) The firm expects global shipments of PNDs to hit 42 million in 2011 and 2012, and then decline to 34 million in 2015.
