Global PND Shipments Will Stagnate at 39 Million Units in 2009

The once booming personal navigation device market is grinding to a halt in 2009 with little or no growth expected in most regions. With the European PND market forecast to decline and the North American market remaining flat, Asia-Pacific remains the only growth market.

"While the economic downturn is definitely a major factor, it is not the only reason why the PND segment is struggling," says ABI Research practice director Dominique Bonte. "The anticipated growth of connected PNDs has failed to materialize due both to a lack of compelling services and to inadequate business models."

At the same time handset-based navigation is gaining momentum, boosted by a wave of high profile touchscreen GPS-smartphone launches, the central role of navigation and LBS in handset market leader Nokia's OVI service strategy, and the growing availability of free ad-funded navigation in Europe.

However, ABI Research does expect growth in PND shipments to resume in 2010, as the market for optimized dedicated navigation devices is still largely underpenetrated. Innovative PND vendors such as TomTom which have invested in connected navigation services will finally reap the benefits, helped by a more mature wireless connectivity environment and declining price erosion. In the longer term PNDs will face increasing competition from new form factors such as MIDs, portable media players, and multi-purpose large-screen connected portable devices.

Posted to the site on 23rd March 2009