GPS phones threaten satnavs sales, says analyst

Shipments of satnave in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) fell between Q2 and Q3 this year. At the same time, shipments of smartphones with integrated GPS pick-ups more than doubled, according to market watcher Canalys. But it forgot to mention one thing... Punters only buy satnavs for one thing: the devices' ability …

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought my TyTnII....

...purely so that I wouldn't have to buy a separate PND. It's safer not to leave a PND in the car (I take my phone with me) and it's smaller lighter and cheaper than having two standalone devices.

I suspect a lot of people will begin to do this, now we're seeing GPS-enabled phones with larger touchscreens. If you have a Touch Diamond, Omnia, Nokia etc with GPS built-in, why would you go to the trouble of having a separate GPS device?

Unfortunately, this is the biggest problem with the iPhone and Android. The former is unlikely to get TomTom (or similar turn-by-turn navigation) and so far Android doesn't look like it'll have one soon. So I'm stuck with crappy WM devices. :-\

[Robert Govier]

No need to upgrade

Surely the simple reason that Sat Nav sales fell is that most people who want one have one, and can see no reason to spend another £100+ on a new model just to get updated maps?

Sales of phones with GPS chips are up? Perhaps more phones have GPS chips in as standard, and as most people upgrade their phone every 18 months, more GPS enabled phones will be sold?

[Anonymous Coward]

Phone = small screen. Satnav = big screen.

Here's the thing, most people have got one now, so the market is saturated. You've got a TomTom, why buy another?

I have both, but use the PDA with GPS on for navigating, and the phone for, well, phone-things.

I don't think there's a link, and I don't think the phones threaten the satnav sales. If anyone uses TomTom on their phone, it's probably because they either don't want to pay or can't afford to pay for a PND.

[Anonymous Coward]

Clarification

"Why else would you buy a PND unless you want to use it for navigation?"

I don't have an iPhone. It has GPS, as does the Nokia N95 and others. I don't reckon people buy the phones because they have GPS - it's a "base" feature at that price point.

Question : If I get an iPhone, can I give away my TomTom - i.e. is there software available for it that is as good as that on the TomTom (i.e. read aloud clear directions, clear mapping, ability to store points of interest/favourites, speed camera alerts, TMC traffic information etc.) ? I believe the answer is No.

I think the answer is the same for the N95/N96 and other smartphones with GPS - the software to offer good navigation is not up to the mark yet. I can live without TMC (coverage in the UK is poor) but need the rest.

[Patrick]

mda

I got a cheap MDA compact 3 from a local secondhand store, as it has gps builtin. only thing I find is when you get a call it goes to phone mode so cannot see the map LOL, That does let it down.

Apart from that I have had tomtom's in the past and they are not very gopd. But that's just what me thinks

[Matt]

title...

Everyone has a standalone satnav nowadays... so sales will drop as the market is prety much sturated... new maps.. well, within reason there is no need to update maps, yes roads come and go, but other than estate hell, road changes are something that a bit of common sense can usually overcome.. :)

sales of GPS phones is up as every new phone has a GPS built into it... I know of atleast a dozen friends that have GPS phones, only one uses it as a navigation aid - ME!!

gps phone sales up - actual gps useage on said device is minimal id say...

[Mark Cathcart]

TT7 on HTC Touch Pro

I have an HTC Touch Pro with Tom Tom 7, in a powered cradle in my car, I have the phone connected to the car stereo to use as an MP3 player, oh and also to listen to BBC Radio London streamed over the net to my normal 12-mile commute in Austin TX, the TT7 Voice is just slightly louder than either MP3 or the Beeb and is great.

Yeah the screen is small, and yeah the whole thing isn't stuck to my windscreen/shield via an ugly sticker thing, but hey it works great and I can follow twitter via PockeTwit, get emails, I have my calendar, address book synced via CommonTime mNotes... uh, oooh, d'oh, I think I just arrived...

It does phone calls too some I'm told ;-) and yeah its Windows Mobile, but actually I think thats pretty good, the only downside is the horrible PC side Windows ActiveSync that keeps thinking its a different phone.

[James Prior]

Clearly ..

.. no one has tried to use GPS on the Nokia N95. The longest cold start time I've ever experienced and it's only accurate to about 5 miles.

While GPS on a phone might be very handy to work out where you are when lost, or for geotagging a photo, I'd not rely on it for Sat Nav. When I did attempt to do so with the N95 it constantly kept switching between the motorway I was on and the A road about 50 metres to the left.

In comparison my TomTom 730 locks on really quickly and never decides I'm on a completely different road.