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GPS IC Shipments To Reach 1 Billion By 2013

By Staff Writer | March 20, 2008

[Satellite Today – 3-20-08] GPS receiver chipset shipments will reach 1 billion annually by 2013, according to a new study from ABI Research, the company announced March 19.
    The increase prediction is based on the popularity of satellite-based navigation technology, with the upsurge in GPS devices fueling a subsequent increase in GPS Integrated Circuit (IC) shipments.
    “Three factors will intersect to shape the future of the GPS IC market,” said industry analyst Jamie Moss. “The average price of the chipset will fall to $3.50 or below by the end of 2008, permitting a true mass market adoption. This fall in [average selling price] is driven by manufacturers’ goal of producing receivers that can be included in lower-margin devices such as mobile phones: handset-based GPS will be critical to strong market penetration. The benefits will filter down to more traditional GPS uses such as in-car navigation. Meanwhile, we’re seeing growing numbers of acquisitions: large chip manufacturers buying up specialist fabless GPS IC vendors in order to include their technologies in solutions that combine GPS with varied wireless RF product offerings, especially Bluetooth.”