Is There A Future For Personal Navigation Devices?
The geolocation market has been exploding as new, inexpensive tools and services are introduced. The company to watch in this area has been Google and its Google Maps products.
But this brings up another questions. What will become of the personal navigation devices (PND) like those from Garmin and TomTom? The question has been answered by ABI Research. The use of PND with their only or main function of helping users navigate is popular with the over 45 year old crowd. These users want a simple, easy-to-use device. The under 45 and especially the under 35 set is turning to their mobile devices to provide this functionality, among many others that it supplies.
The manufacturers of the one-trick pony devices like Garmin and TomTom will need to evolve to challenge the iPhones and Blackberries smartphones, their new competition. To survive, they will need to evolve quickly, before the under 35 crowd teaches the over 45 crowd how to use their new iPhones.