Made in China

GPS & Navigation industry of China is in the journey of robust growth in 2010 as the global economic turmoil recedes. Due to the growth of hardware and software technologies according to latest technological trends, sliding chip costs and the growing use of GPS in automotive as well as personal tracking, the production and export of GPS from China direct is contributing hugely in the progress of the country’s economy. In addition to the popular SiRFstarIII and Centrality Atlas III, more GPS solutions are being adopted such as u-blox and M-Star, which support low power consumption.

The new features in navigation system such as navigation maps as well as 3-D UI are becoming key features of portable GPS. New models including multidimensional features require at least the capacity of 8 GB memory cards. Wireless connectivity especially via Bluetooth is another direction which most companies are preferring. More units with Wi-Fi, GSM/GPRS and 3G capabilities are also introducing. Some GPS models contain handset modules that can send and receive SMS and MMS as well as make phone calls. On the other hand, suppliers of vehicle GPS are particularly adding entertainment features for competing with car multimedia players that incorporate navigation functions.

Some GPS manufacturing companies provide portable GPS devices without map programs. Most manufacturers purchase the software for the target markets and integrate this into their export-bound products. More expensively, this method perfects the requirements and causes reducing the risk of opposition with regulations in the destination markets. The mapping, GPS and navigation industry of China generally focus on domestic sales. Only a few have plans to enter into the overseas markets in the nearest future.