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Q2 shipments of integrated GPS navigation devices hit almost 2.5 million
Reading, UK – Friday, 11 August 2006 - TomTom retains market lead with over 30%
share, up year-on-year, but down on Q1 2006
- Garmin doubles market share compared to one year ago, to hold firm second place
- Market growth of 97% takes total quarterly shipments above the previous record
set in Q4 2005
- Handhelds now account for only 10% of integrated devices, down from over 40%
18 months ago
Highlights from the Canalys Q2 2006 EMEA mobile navigation research... New GPS
navigation device market research from Canalys shows that sustained growth has
taken shipments in the latest quarter above even the boom level seen in Q4 2005,
which made a big difference to the year-end performance of many retailers. Canalys
estimates that just under 2.5 million devices shipped in Q2 2006, beating the
previous quarterly record of 2.3 million. The Canalys figures include all mobile
devices that have integrated GPS receivers and provide turn-by-turn vehicle navigation,
including handhelds, such as the Mio P550, wireless handhelds like the HP hw6915,
and transferables (or ‘PNDs’: Portable Navigation Devices), for example the TomTom
GO and Garmin nüvi ranges.
EMEA integrated mobile GPS navigation device market
Hardware vendor market shares Q2 2006, Q2 2005
Vendor Q2 2006 Q2 2005 Growth
Shipments Share Shipments Share Q2'06/
Q2'05
Total 2,448,920 100.0% 1,245,870 100.0% 96.6%
TomTom 747,610 30.5% 258,530 20.8% 189.2%
Garmin 408,660 16.7% 102,530 8.2% 298.6%
Mio Technology 232,990 9.5% 157,470 12.6% 48.0%
Navman 156,510 6.4% 88,640 7.1% 76.6%
Medion 149,920 6.1% 169,220 13.6% -11.4%
Others 753,230 30.8% 469,480 37.7% 60.4%
Source: Canalys estimates, copyright 2005-2006 canalys.com ltd. (Table graphic
available from Canalys web site)
“Q2 can be a quiet quarter for many consumer electronics product categories,
but the navigation market, particularly in Europe, benefits from lots of customers
buying devices in time for their summer vacations,” said Chris Jones, Canalys
director and principal analyst. “The market continues to go from strength to strength,
and we are seeing a continuous stream of new products coming to market, and more
and more variety in form factors, features and price points. There are also an
increasing number of hardware vendors aiming to challenge the early leadership
position established by TomTom.”
TomTom suffered from some supply issues this quarter, giving others the opportunity
to make up some ground. Of the top five vendors it was second-placed Garmin that
made the most progress, its shipments quadrupling year-on-year. Still the US number
one vendor, Garmin has a long history in GPS products, particularly for outdoor
use and for the marine and avionics sectors, but it was overtaken early on in
the European market for portable navigation devices for vehicles, development
of which has been led primarily by European companies. Increased marketing effort
in Europe and an expanding product range are now helping Garmin increase its presence
in this market.
An earlier Canalys research report pointed out how the handheld computer market
in EMEA was declining (down 42% year on year in Q2 2006) now that the demand for
GPS navigation solutions has shifted away to transferables (dedicated portable
navigation devices with integrated GPS) like the TomTom GO. Its navigation market
numbers show the extent of that shift. Of the 2.5 million devices shipped in Q2,
only 10% were handhelds, a further 3% were wireless handhelds, while a massive
87% were transferables. Compare this to the start of 2005, when handhelds were
almost half the market.
“Consumers have flocked to transferables in droves,” Jones added. “They typically
present a simple proposition, in an optimised form factor, at attractive price
points. They are easy to demonstrate and sell. As a result, they have stolen a
lot of retail shelf space away from handhelds, which has hastened the latter’s
decline.”
Early solutions for handhelds relied on product bundles with external GPS receivers
connected by cable or Bluetooth, which could sometimes be quite difficult to set
up, and cumbersome to fit in the vehicle. These have understandably withered away
in the face of the much better user experience offered by integrated GPS devices,
but solutions using external receivers are still growing in the mobile phone space.
As in other market segments such as digital music players, Jones sees rising activity
around mobile phone and smart phone solutions, which will present a growing threat
to the makers of dedicated navigation devices, but he believes there are two fundamental
things missing from the market in EMEA today. The first is a broad array of attractive
mobile phones or smart phones with integrated GPS, the second requires a change
in attitude.
“Most of the mobile operators still aren’t awake to the huge potential of mobile
navigation, and it comes a long way down on their priority list, after higher-risk
plays like mobile TV. It shouldn’t. It is perhaps the purest form of location-based
service, and has huge potential, not just in terms of subscriber numbers and as
a revenue stream in itself, but also as a way of changing customer perception
of what a phone is for, thus building a foundation for the delivery of other information
services through the handset,” Jones said.
Average selling prices have remained steady around the €400 mark, despite increasing
competition. The market continues to attract new vendors, particularly in the
transferable space, including many well-known in-car system and consumer electronics
brands, such as Becker, Blaupunkt, Packard Bell, Pioneer and VDO Dayton. These
are being joined by more vendors of wireless handhelds with integrated GPS, for
example Fujitsu-Siemens, who will hope to tap into the still underdeveloped enterprise
market. While there are many entry-level products available, and Jones expects
to see a €199 transferable before the year is out, this is being counterbalanced
by new feature-packed models coming in at the top end, bringing, for example,
widescreen displays, real-time traffic and weather information, and additional
capabilities that encroach further into the in-car entertainment space, such as
playback of music, photos, video and TV. How far the mobile navigation market
leaders can go down this route is one of the subjects being addressed at the first
Canalys Navigation Forum in Geneva, taking place from the 11th to the 13th of
September. The success the market is experiencing is reflected in the tremendous
speaker list and audience that this event has already pulled together, from not
only the industry itself, but also the financial analyst community and press.
More information and registration details can be found at www.canalys.com/navigation.
About the Mobile Navigation Analysis EMEA service...
The shipment estimates discussed in this release come from the market-leading
Canalys Mobile Navigation Analysis EMEA service. Clients receive quarterly market
updates for the navigation hardware and software markets, regular reports, trends
presentations and forecasts, and direct access to Canalys analysts. A worldwide
service is also now available focusing on the growing opportunities in the US
and Asia. More information is available from the Canalys web site.
Analyst photos...
High-resolution photographs of the analysts quoted in this release are available
from www.canalys.com/staff
About Canalys...
Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data, analysis and advice
to the world's leading technology companies. It is recognised as a key provider
of continuous advisory services and confidential custom projects for marketing
managers and strategists within blue-chip IT, telecoms and consumer electronics
companies. It has unrivalled expertise in European routes to market for all kinds
of high technology products and services, and provides worldwide market data and
trends analysis. |
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