June 9, 2008 It may have taken a while to get traction, but GPS appears to be the next technology destined for ubiquity. A new research report from Parks Associatesindicates that by 2012, more than one in ten humans will buy a GPS-enabled mobile device each year.
The report, entitled, “GPS: A Path to New Applications on Mobile Devices” predicts worldwide shipments of GPS-integrated mobile devices will grow at an annualized rate of nearly 40% over the next five years, reaching 834 million units in 2012.
The report looks at a variety of mobile devices, including personal navigation devices (PNDs), mobile handsets and smartphones, portable media players, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Mobile handsets and smartphones will constitute the majority of shipments up to 2012, but PNDs will remain the most widely used and preferred navigation choice in the next three years, said Harry Wang, senior analyst, Parks Associates.
"GPS will come to your mobile handset as a standard feature, but mobile carriers are still a couple of years away from turning GPS into a money-making, mass-market feature," Wang said. Currently, consumers prefer PNDs thanks to the combination of a bigger screen, more versatile functions, and growing affordability.
"The use of navigational services on mobile phones will lag behind adoption of PNDs and GPS-integrated handsets in the near term," Wang said. "Carriers can boost consumer interest and usage by developing flexible and innovative services and revenue models."
GPS: A Path to New Applications on Mobile Devices features Parks Associates' latest research on GPS-enabled mobile devices. It highlights the development and market trends for the major mobile navigation platforms and analyzes the adoption of GPS-enabled value-added content and services among hardware manufacturers and service operators and ultimately consumers.
http://www.parksassociates.com