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Research conducted by market researchers, Canalys, has shown that the satnav market has come very close to doubling in size in the space of one year. Garmin and TomTom own almost 50 per cent of the market and both companies have more than doubled their shipments since the second quarter of 2006.
In total 7,448,050 satnav units were shipped between Q2 06 and Q2 07. Over 90 per cent of those units shipped were dedicated Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs).
According to the research, the US now accounts for 26 per cent of the market with Europe, the Middle East and Asia representing 60 per cent of the share.
“It is difficult to point to another part of the high-tech industry that is so dynamic and growing as fast as the navigation sector,” said Chris Jones, Canalys VP and principal analyst. “With the current market growth, the still huge untapped potential, rapid hardware and software development, and the number of players vying for a share, you can understand why there has been so much merger and acquisition activity and interest in this business recently.”
To place emphasis on how quickly the market is growing, relatively new satnav manufacturers, Magellan grew a stunning 548 per cent in one year, raising their shipments from only 64,950 units shipped to 421,080 units in 2007.