GPS Phone Sales Seen Rising - Strategy Analytics

GPS smartphone sales are expected to grow rapidly in the current year, driven by improved applications and strong consumer acceptance of navigation devices, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday.

Shipments of GPS smartphones, like Nokia Corp.'s (NOK) N97 and Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone, are seen increasing 34% to 77 million units in 2009 from 2008, the research firm said.

"GPS smartphones...are a high-growth segment that continues to expand even during the current, tough economic times," said Strategy Analytics Navigation Director Joanne Blight.

Overall handset sales have so far been badly hit in the economic downturn, but demand for more advanced phones has remained strong. According to research firm Gartner, total handset sales fell 14.5% in the first quarter 2009 from the previous quarter to 269 million units. At the same time, sales of smartphones, which have open operating systems allowing downloads of multiple applications, increased 12.7% to 36 million units.

The growing adoption of GPS smartphones is fueled by widespread consumer acceptance of portable navigation devices for vehicles from companies such as TomTom (TOM2.AE) and Garmin (GRMN), combined with improving mobile navigation services, said Neil Mawston, Wireless Director at Strategy Analytics.

"There is an increasing presence of mapping applications among major smartphone vendors, such as Nokia Maps, Apple Google Maps and Blackberry Maps," he added.

Company Web site: www.strategyanalytics.com

-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]