Snapper <snapper1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>Who of you owns a GPS, or more specifically a car navigator?
>Tom Tom, a Netherlands based company has re****ted 80 percent reduction in
>revenue. One of the reasons cited is that while prices have dropped,
>volume of sales hasn't increased in pro****tion to maintain profit levels.
>This is because the market is probably saturated, an analyst said.
>Thing is, I know of very few people who own GPSes and I move in circles
>where people tend to buy gadgets and modern appliances.
>So, who is buying the bloody things. Or is that the point - while they're
>now cheaper than say 3 years ago (my Tom Tom one cost me close to $900
and
>they now sell for around $300) perhaps people still aren't buying them.
The cost of the devices is still far too high. Take out the cost of
licensing whichever map database the manufacturer chooses to use, and then
the units have little or no value. So it's not the hardware cost at all
which is the problem - it's the database cost where the wheeling and
dealing
happens.
The hardware is quite cheap to design and manufacturer. Then again, the
cost
of the map database is only high because the companies that own the data
(ie. Sensis, etc.) have a very expensive setup cost, then the ongoing
'maintenance' cost of the core map database is fairly low. I suppose the
biggest part of the map database creation is getting access to the raw
data
out of government and private GIS systems, access to satellites, etc.
Craig.
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