The handheld navigation product that made the biggest splash in 2006 was the personal navigation device (PND). In-Stat expects the market for PNDs to reach 56 million units worldwide by 2011, up from 14 million in 2006. Market drivers include falling price points, enhanced features, stronger consumer awareness of PNDs, and increased marketing and promotion by leading PND manufacturers.
However, 2007 is shaping up to be the year in which mapping and navigation applications truly arrive on mobile handsets. For approximately US$ 10 per month, handset navigation offers similar, if not superior, functionality as PNDs, at a lower price. In-Stat believes that with strong, targeted promotion, wireless service providers can capture potential, price-sensitive PND buyers, adversely impacting future PND growth.
In-Stat's latest In-Depth research report covers the worldwide market for PNDs in terms of unit shipments, average sales prices, and revenue over the 2005 to 2011 time period. In addition, it includes results from a large-scale survey of consumer attitudes toward PNDs and mobile handset navigation applications.
Global positioning system (GPS) technology continues to transform the way in which we travel, track our locations, and find various points of interest; and the technology is now low cost enough to incorporate into portable consumer electronic (CE) devices considered affordable by most consumers.