27 June 2008

Personal Navigation Sales Beat Expectations

Worldwide shipment growth of personal navigation devices (PNDs) beat expectations last year, with shipments reaching 30.7 million in 2007, up from 13.3 million in 2006, according to a report.

The main drivers for this growth were falling prices, efficient volume availability through the retail channels during the crucial holiday season, enhanced functionality, and stronger consumer demand for navigation, according to a report by market research company In-Stat.

"However, the PND market faces strong competition from both mobile phone handset navigation and embedded automotive navigation systems," explained Stephanie Ethier, an analyst for In-Stat "In particular, vendors in handset navigation are starting to offer a number of value-added services, such as pedestrian navigation, offline navigation, and searches for local points of interest."

In-Stat forecasts that worldwide unit shipments of PNDs will grow from 30.7 million units in 2007 to 68 million units in 2012.