SCOTTSDALE, USA: The personal navigation device (PND) market is showing signs of maturity as price points decline sharply, consolidation occurs, and shipment growth slows, reports In-Stat.

In addition, the increasing competition from GPS-enabled mobile phones represents the most significant threat the PND market will face. Nevertheless, stand-alone PND sales will continue to grow over the next five years, albeit at an anemic rate.

Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst, said: "Drivers for continued PND market growth include average selling price declines, automobile manufacturers' desire to offer more affordable navigation options, and the potential growth anticipated from connected PNDs. Connected PNDs, like the recently announced Garmin nuvi 1690, can connect to the Internet and receive dynamic information such as flight updates, gas prices, and local weather. These expensive models may be a tough sell in the current struggling economy, however."

Research Highlights:
Worldwide unit shipments for PNDs will reach approximately 56 million units in 2012.

The total silicon opportunity for PNDs will pass $1 billion in 2010, before starting to decline.  Processors will be the largest semiconductor segment, followed by DRAM and NAND memory.

Among the semiconductor competitors in this market are Broadcom, Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) & SiRF Technology, Inc., GloNav/NXP/STMicroelectronics/Ericsson, Infineon, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and STMicroelectronics.

GPS-enabled mobile phone shipments will nearly triple by 2013, compared with 2009.