Market Overview

Mobile Communications

Mobile communications, primarily cell phones and smartphones. As it turns out, cameras are just the beginning. The next generation of mobile phones is expected to sport voice, video, camera, MP3, and GPS chips as standard equipment, as storage, screen sizes, and other core capabilities grow. As worldwide smartphone shipments continue to rise – these phones hit 16.1 million units in Q4 05 (reflecting a 139% year-over-year increase ) with projections to reach one billion units in 2010, manufacturers and carriers will continue to load them up with the latest bells and whistles, including GPS. Over the next five years, Berg Insight projects that location-based services in Europe will grow to € 2,183 million and account for 4.5 percent of total non-voice revenues or more than 5 Billion Euros by 2010. These factors and a few others (see A Perfect Storm below) will drive the market for GPS services within the mobile communications market to $1.6B by 2010.