Here’s a rarity for today – a tech blog that’s not about Apple.
Instead what’s caught my attention is the shake-up in the satnav market. From being the must have gadget of a few years ago it looks like a combination of commoditisation (you can buy one for £50 in Argos) and mobile phone apps will kill satnavs as a standalone device.
Anyone with an iPhone will marvel at how easy it is to use Google Maps (and equally how it zaps your battery). And Nokia’s announcement of free, turn by turn navigation through Ovi Maps is a direct threat to Garmin, Tom Tom et al. So if these guys want to survive they need to get creative. Become application providers rather than hardware manufacturers and get your branded content into other people’s devices. Hell, maybe start with the Apple tablet……………
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Where’s the satnav market gone? http://goo.gl/fb/qsFW (@ChrisMeasures)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Hey – if you look around you’ll see that sat nav apps already exist….take CoPilot Live and TomTom, both of which are available for iPhone, Android etc..So whilst perhaps standalone devices are disappearing, the branded content is already appearing on devices, which like you suggest, may well be the downfall of the PND.
Satnavs will go the way of car alarms (remember the little Moss Security stickers people had on door windows?!) It’s a short-term market as satnavs increasing become in-car as standard; it’s a cheap gadget to bundle into a new car.