While more than 40 million global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers were shipped in 2005, by 2011 the market will have grown to nearly 300 million shipments, according to a new study from ABI Research tracking GNSS markets across 11 vertical industry segments.

In material released Sept. 20, ABI says growth will not occur evenly across the board. In 2005, in-vehicle navigation systems accounted for 26 percent of total shipments but 34 percent of worldwide GNSS hardware revenues. In 2011, in contrast, in-vehicle navigation shipments will represent 16 percent of the total market but still deliver 29 percent of the hardware revenue.

Frank Viquez, ABI’s research directors, said the most significant trend is the growing importance of the communications sector, almost entirely made up of GPS-enabled handsets: “In 2005, communications accounted for 43 percent of the total market in terms of shipments. In 2011 that will have grown to 69 percent, but the revenue derived from it will have doubled, from just 9 percent in 2005.”