With location-based services (LBS) like navigation and location-aware social networks steadily gaining momentum, ABI Research is predicting more than 550 million GPS-enabled handsets will ship by 2012.
According to the research company’s principal analyst Dominique Bonte, “While most CDMA handsets are already GPS-enabled and GPS is set to become a standard feature in GSM smartphones, GSM feature phones are next on the agenda to be equipped with GPS technology.”
However, as GPS begins to penetrate lower-end phones, the cost, power consumption, and footprint of GPS chipsets will have to be further reduced. This will be made possible by single chipset solutions that combine Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS, and which we’ll see emerging in 2009.
At the same time, the issue of indoor GPS coverage has to be addressed, and ABI sees the issue solved through network assisted A-GPS and high-sensitivity GPS receivers…
More information is available in ABI Research’s report, “GPS-Enabled Mobile Devices,” that examines the market landscape and future potential for GPS-enabled mobile phones.