CES News: PND Focus At CES: Ease Of Use, Not High-End Features

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, December 15, 2008

NEW YORK — Recession might alter the mix of new technologies to be on display at International CES next month in the personal navigation device (PND) aisles.

Although one or two suppliers might show high-end Internet-connected PNDs, many will focus on making their products simpler to use, said Dominique Bonte, telematics and navigation director at ABI Research.

"Instead of launching yet more features, it's probably more important for PND vendors to work on their user interface and on the quality … There are always companies coming out with new features, and there's a lot of talk about enhanced digital maps. But I think the main challenge is to make PNDs so simple to use that virtually everybody will be able to buy them and use them. That's the trend, combined with the economic downturn, where people don't want to spend more on the device."

ABI forecasts 24.3 million PNDs will sell to consumers in North America next year, including a million Internet-connected PNDs, compared to 18 million PNDs forecast to sell in 2008, including 0.4 million Internet-connected models. In dollars, sales will hit $4.57 billion this year and rise 12 percent to $5.13 billion in 2009.