According to a new research report by Berg Insight the number of mobile subscribers accessing maps and downloading routes using their mobile handsets in Europe and the USA is expected to grow from 4 million users in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60.8 percent to reach 43 million users in 2012. Revenue from subscriptions and advertisement is expected to reach €512 million by 2012 from €96 million in 2007, a CAGR of 39.8 percent.
The growing adoption will be driven mainly by the introduction of GPS-technology in smartphone handsets and bundling of navigation and map content with mobile devices as well as service plans. This year the successful launch of the GPS-enabled Nokia N95 has opened up the market for handset based navigation in Europe. The US market has evolved further with GPS already being a standard feature in all CDMA-handsets. Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless have attracted millions of subscribers to navigation services, a feat which European network operators now hope to repeat. Meanwhile, Nokia is putting its full weight behind a handset-centric map and navigation platform, whereas Google and Yahoo! are extending their existing local search and map propositions with Mobile Web 2.0 applications.