The global GPS IC market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 10.0% over the forecast period. Global positioning system (GPS) technology has advanced its applications across several industries and new application ranges are coming up due to its substantial advantages.
Few applications such as determining a location are comparatively easy whereas some are complex blends of GPS with communications and other technologies. Fast growth in GPS commercial applications is being witnessed by firms building GPS satellites and equipment over the past few years. Technological advancements in this sector are expected to have a positive impact on the market over the next seven years.
One of the main factors contributing to industry growth is increased use of technology among smartphone users. The market has also been observing the advancement of multifunctional GPS ICs over the past few years. Though, the absence of accuracy in GPS data poses a major challenge to the industry over the forecast period.
GPS offers benefits such as wireless connectivity and low power consumption, which is also anticipated to drive market demand over the forecast period. However, factors such as its high cost of operation may hinder its market growth. Technical glitches such as satellite orbit shift and clock inaccuracy also pose to be a challenge to the GPS market over the forecast period.
Rapid growth in the improvement of global positioning system integrated circuits technology is a key trend in the industry, and this is expected to continue over the forecast period. Vendors of the GPS integrated circuits design the ICs by focusing primarily on end-user requirements. Technological improvements in GPS IC are in the areas of refining the navigation abilities along with adding extra some features. With technological developments, GPS devices are planned with communications and other technologies such as voice-guided navigation applications, tracking and tracing, location-enabled search, voice-guided in-car navigation, people tracking, and advertising. These factors are expected to impact positively demand over the next seven years.
Growing demand for GPS ICs in smartphones is one of the foremost growth drivers for the market. Presently, nearly nine out of ten smartphones are GPS-enabled, and these devices are anticipated to add up significantly to the overall revenue of the Global GPS IC market. With implanted mapping services and GPS receivers in smartphones, users can obtain text and voice-guided directions, data on points of interest, and real-time position tracking. Rising number of consumers with cell phones coupled with their rising disposable income especially in Asia Pacific is expected to boost industry growth over the forecast period. Moreover, the global smartphone market unit shipment is projected to grow considerably over the forecast period, which will aid the growth of the technology.
Geographically, the global market is segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Latin America, while North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe are the largest markets for the product. The Middle East and Africa is still lagging behind in this technology as the adoption rate is low. Asia Pacific is anticipated to appear as high growth regional market due to rising demand for GPS technology in nations such as India and China. Europe and North America are also projected to witness substantial growth over the forecast period.
Key vendors dominating the global market include Qualcomm Inc., Broadcom Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., MediaTek, and CSR Plc., while other predominant players include Maxim Integrated Products Inc., RF Micro Devices, and Analog Devices Inc.
Qualcomm is the chief GPS integrated circuit vendor followed by Broadcom. After a long time, In the last two years, MediaTek attained one of the top three positions after another year of significant growth and vigorous shipments as a consequence of its targeted design approach. Qualcomm remains the leading player with a high universal location platform in IZat. This is expected to positively impact the cellular handsets market over the forecast period. This, in turn, will fuel the GPS technology demand over the next seven years.
With the continuous innovation, Broadcom has been competing aggressively with competitors, receiving the highest score for this category year over the past few years. In 2014, Broadcom declared its concurrent tri-band BCM 4771 and BCM 47531 IC GNSS System on Chip intended for wearable’s, including a sensor hub. Finally, it broadcasted its 5G Wi-Fi System on Chip, which is competent in its new flagship FTM centered AccuLocate technology.
MediaTek appeared as a significant threat, being third on innovation, following striking shipments of its combinations of ICs into confined Chinese smartphone vendors. Moreover, it is strong on recreational and cameras, with an increasing existence in other markets. MediaTek aims to move towards entirely embedded GPS, which is expected to should show significant growth over the next seven years. Besides this, STMicroelectronics is expected to gain a high market share on account of its new Tesco III platform giving it a significantly better and flexible design.