Europe in love with sat-nav

Shipments of satellite-navigation units have doubled in the last year, research has found.

A new report from research firm Canalys discovered that in the second quarter of this year, over two and a half million units were sold - an increase of 96 per cent year on year.

TomTom remains the top selling sat-nav device maker with just over 30 per cent market share. Second place vendor Garmin has almost half that with 17 per cent and third place is taken by Mio Technology with 10 per cent.

While most of the market is made up of the type of 'transferable' device typically used by drivers for navigation, Canalys advises that sat-nav makers should turn their attention towards the potential offered by mobile phones.

Chris Jones, Canalys director and principal analyst, said that sat-nav on mobiles is a better bet for earning cash than current hype generators like mobile TV. Jones said that operators could not only find themselves making a pretty penny from location-based services but also open up new revenue streams by changing the public's perception of what a mobile can do.