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Strategy Analytics: Worldwide PND Shipments to Reach 47 Million Units in 2009

BOSTON - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Worldwide personal navigation device (PND) shipments almost doubled in Q2-09 to 8.0M, in a market growth recovery which largely reflects the aftereffects of an extremely poor Q1-09, as PND vendors reduced inventory, according to the Strategy Analytics Navigation and Location Opportunities service. The current market share metrics show some optimism and are reported in the report "TomTom, Garmin, and PND Sales, Shares, and Financial Metrics" . Auxiliary to this report, "Garmin Gains Market Share as PND Market Shows Recovery Signs and Connected Devices Emerge," addresses industry speculation that the PND market will be subsumed by navigation on smartphones.

Joanne Blight, Navigation Director at Strategy Analytics, said, "Certainly we expect very strong growth for navigation-enabled smartphones, but we think there has been far too much hype around the PND market being dead. In the short term, PNDs still offer product advantages over smartphone solutions, particularly in the automotive market and in PND feature bundling."

John Canali, Navigation Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, "Connected PND and smartphone navigation apps are emerging quickly. Recent product launches include TomTom, Garmin, ALK and Navigon. Monetization of connected navigation presents major price model and product positioning challenges and this will result in segmented product opportunities."

About Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics is a global, independent research and consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China. Visit www.strategyanalytics.com for more information.

Strategy Analytics
USA Contact:
John Canali, +1-617-614-0707
jcanali@strategyanalytics.com
or
European Contacts
Joanne Blight, +44(0) 1908 423 647
jblight@strategyanalytics.com
or
Neil Mawston, +44 (0) 1908 423 628
nmawston@strategyanalytics.com