Navigation: Portable navigation devices are taking off

Most of the people are not satisfied with the not so versatile built-in solutions by their car maker. That's why portable navigation devices like the ones from TomTom are taking off.

Dutch company TomTom, the leading European manufacturer of portable navigation devices, hit a grand-slam home run with their 2005 financial results Tuesday, increasing annual revenue by 275 percent and net profit by 411 percent.

The company posted 2005 sales of $856 million, and forecasts sales between 1.2 and 1.3 billion for 2006. TomTom units only starting selling at major U.S. retailers in June 2005, and by December the company reached 25 percent market share,

The European market for portable navigation devices is expected to nearly double in 2006, to about 7 million units. It looks like portable devices are reinventing personal navigation, much like the iPod reinvented personal music.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, Navigation

Source: Autoblog

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