A shifting competitor landscape.
On the back of recent announcements by Google and Nokia signaling their intentions to provide free turn-by-turn satellite navigation as applications on their smart phone devices, it is more clear than ever that the satellite navigation industry is on the brink of experiencing drastic changes. Once an industry dominated almost entirely by Personal Navigation Device (PND) manufacturers like Garmin and TomTom, mobile device manufacturers are emerging as a force to be reckoned with.
"With the growth of mobile phone and smart phone users and application builds upon it, PNDs are set to face a tough challenge from GPS-enabled mobile phones. While Google and Apple are set to redefine the navigation ambience, with terms like Mobile Internet Devices (MID) getting clearer definitions, it is still too early to say which direction the navigation markets will move in or what niche each one will create for itself. In the sphere of navigation, there are arguments in favor of PNDs but the same holds true for mobile based navigation also. So, the debate remains, is it PND or Mobile or both?". Tomas Miranda, Consultant at Point Consulting, Singapore.
The increased importance of smart phone manufacturers in the satellite navigation industry is a direct result of two trends – a natural tendency towards device convergence and an increase in demand for Location-Based Services (LBS). In a world governed by Moore’s Law, in which increasingly powerful devices predictably become smaller and cheaper, there has always existed a trend towards device convergence in the realm of consumer electronics.
For further details look at Coordinates magazine.