Global positioning system technology will be increasingly integrated into cell phones at an explosive rate in the coming years, according to research firm iSuppli.
Some 79.9% of cell phone shipments -- or 318.3 million units -- in the fourth quarter of 2011 will have GPS functionality, iSuppli forecasts. This is up from 56.1% or 187.8 million units that shipped in the first quarter of 2009. The hot smartphone market is driving the adoption of GPS in mobile devices, the firm said.
"The smartphone is the key product driving the technology industry today -- and social networking services and applications spurred by GPS-related features are critical elements in the smartphone market today," said Dr. Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for iSuppli, in a statement. "This is illustrated by Google Inc.'s decision to make turn-by-turn navigation, LBS [location based services], and mobile ads the central features in its bid to take on Apple in the smartphone market, and make up the central pillars of its strategy to increasingly monetize mobile search."
Portable navigation devices (PNDs) will no longer
gongser be the major platform for navigation since smartphones are taking over, the firm noted, and as a result, usage of navigation-enabled smartphones will surpass PNDs by 2014.
