GPS smartphone adoption is on the rise, according to a July 29 report from Strategy Analytics.
Worldwide shipments of GPS-equipped smartphones are expected to
increase by 34 percent this year, compared to 2008 numbers, which would
boost the number of units shipped from 57 million units to 77 million
units at the year’s close.
The main drivers of this growth, says the researcher, are widespread
consumer acceptance of portable navigation devices in the United States
and Europe, and an increased presence of mapping applications from
popular mobile vendors.
Neil Mawston, wireless director of Strategy Analytics, commented in the
statement, “Two key factors are fueling the adoption of GPS
smartphones. First, there is widespread consumer acceptance of portable
in-vehicle navigation devices from companies such as TomTom and Garmin
Europe and the United States.”
Second, he said, “mobile navigation services are improving. There is an
increasing presence of mapping applications among major smartphone
vendors, such as Nokia Maps, Apple Google Maps and BlackBerry Maps.”
In a separate report on July 30, Strategy Analytics additionally estimated that overall global handset shipments fell by 8 percent in the second quarter of 2009, which was a slower decline than the previous quarter and hinted toward a stabilization of the market.
Nonetheless, “GPS smartphones, such as the Nokia N97 and Apple iPhone,
are a high-growth segment that continues to expand even during the
current, tough economic times,” explained analyst Joanne Blight, the
author of the report, in a statement.
On June 8, at the Worldwide Developers Conference where Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS, TomTom and Apple also announced they’d teamed to create a TomTom navigation app for the iPhone, as well as a TomTom car kit. The kit is said to offer a dock, enhanced GPS performance and, among other features, in-car iPhone charging.
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