A new research report from Berg Insight forecasts that the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation service or application on their mobile phone grew 57% from H1-2009 to H1-2010 and reached 44 million worldwide. In terms of the future use, the analyst firm expects the subscriber base to grow at a CAGR of 33.1% to reach 195 million users worldwide in 2015.
Among the reasons quoted for widespread adoption, Berg points to broad availability of GPS handsets and attractive pricing.
In the US, where GPS handset penetration is above 70% (all CDMA-based phones come with a GPS receiver), navigation services for mobile phones has already reached about 8% of the total mobile subscriber base. A large share of these users gets navigation as part of a service bundle together with a voice and data plan from their mobile operator — virtually all major carriers in the country have their own-branded navigation apps/services.
Operators around the world are also starting to offer bundled navigation services as a response to free navigation applications from Nokia and Google. Navigation service providers and mobile operators are also trying to monetize services by introducing various feature and content up-sells that allow users to customize navigation applications to suit their personal needs…
And you can get additional information from Berg Insight’s website.