Smartphones Versus SatNav
Date: Thursday, July 16 @ 14:57:48 UTC
Topic:
 Sales of dedicated SatNavs have fallen quite dramatically this year. For instance, TomTom reported their SatNav shipments were down by 29 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year. The industry is eagerly awaiting TomTom's second quarter results published next week.
Yes, the economic downturn has to take some blame for decreasing sales, but SatNavs are facing an even greater challenge. According to Compete, a web analytics firm, over 40 percent of all smartphone owners utilise their devices for turn-by-turn directions.
They also say that iPhone navigation usage weighs in with 80% usage, but those figure are very likely to include directions using Google Maps, not the turn-by-turn navigation that we're all used to on our SatNavs.
That said, it's not such a giant leap of faith to believe that this 80% figure will soon be reached for "proper" navigation when all the big players follow Navigon and TomTom's route and eventually get their feet under the iPhone table. A year or two perhaps?
This of course begs a question.
Click here to read more...
Click here to discuss...
|
|