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NAVTEQ has been doing quite a bit of research on consumer use of navigation, it would appear! Looking across the industry as a whole, the following [edited] facts emerged:
- Consumer experience with navigation is double that of just a few years ago; but even in mature markets it has reached only around 50%. A NAVTEQ Tracking Study showed that in three of the most mature European markets (UK, France and Germany) 53% of respondents had used navigation, up from 26% in 2006.
- Globally, consumers have the most experience with portable devices; their use of navigation via an in-car system or mobile device is at lower and relatively similar levels. In Europe, 47% of respondents said that they had used portable navigation and another 47% were “familiar.” Reported use of in-car navigation was 19% and mobile navigation use was 25%.
- Consumers most frequently use in-car navigation systems, followed by PNDs and mobile devices. EU respondents showed a pattern of 68% saying they regularly use an embedded navigation system, while that number was only 53% for PNDs and 37% for mobile navigation.
- Consumers utilising traffic services use their navigation system more than those without – 44% of European participants said that they used their navigation systems more often than they did before they had access to real time traffic.
- Interest in pedestrian navigation is real amongst mobile consumers. In a Q3 global proprietary study conducted by NAVTEQ across eight different countries, 2 out of 3 of mobile phone consumers stated that they want a mapping service that provides both car and walking directions.
So there’s lots of interesting stuff here – firstly, that as far as the market for Sat Nav is concerned, it’s relatively unsaturated as a market – lots of room for growth and innovation then! On top of that, Mobile Sat Nav still isn’t that mature either – probably as a result of the fact that there are still an awful lot of devices out there without GPS chips and (good) Sat Nav apps.
In addition, the sorts of services we are now seeing with Sat Nav devices/apps (live traffic, speed cameras, news, etc) are in their infancy really – but there’s clearly an appetite for them, and they in turn stimulate more use of the Sat Nav itself.
All in all, I’d say very good news for everyone in the GPS/Sat Nav ecosystem – and I’m looking forward to see similar sorts of results for uptake in a couple of years time – I’m sure we’ll all be ‘positioned’ and ‘connected’ by then 
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
