Sat Nav Booms

Over the last 12 months, sales of Portable Navigation devices have exploded with over 950,000 units sold according to  market research company GfK. The Sat Nav market is now worth over ?250 million, an increase of 800% since 2005 and GfK estimates that by the end of 2006 the market will be worth a massive ?400 million.

The British consumer is comfortably leading its European neighbours when it comes to buying in-car navigation devices. In Germany 590,000 devices have been sold in the last year, and 407,000 in France.

Price is likely to be a factor in the boom in sales. The average price has declined 30% year-on-year, standing at ?268. This is primarily due to the wider range of products introduced into the market in the last year.

John Binks, Commercial Director of GfK Marketing Services comments, “From practically nothing, Satellite Navigation sales now account for a huge proportion of the market. The UK has been at the forefront of this technological revolution – and perhaps this will mean an end to those summer arguments about which direction to go in."

14 July 2006