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The New Zealand market for satellite navigation devices is about to heat up as Dutch GPS maker TomTom arrives and homegrown favourite Navman attempts to reinvent itself.
TomTom has secured national mapping content from Auckland software company Geosmart and will sell its TomTom One and One XL satnav devices in retailers from this week priced at $499 and $599 respectively.
TomTom estimates penetration of satnav systems in New Zealand vehicles are just 3-4 per cent, so there's plenty of room for growth.
"It comes down to affluence, population and car penetration. But we're just scratching the surface," said TomTom's Australasian marketing manager Chris Kearney.
TomTom will scrap it out with market leader Navman and players Garmin and Uniden in the small but growing market for personal navigation devices, a market that's set to open up as the technology allows for in-car traffic updates and interaction with mobile phones.
After disbanding its New Zealand units early in the year after US owner Brunswick sold them off separately, Navman's personal navigation business now owned by mobile device maker Mitac is relaunching with a new line-up of devices.
Navman's Australasian sales and marketing director, Marcus Fry, said Navman had being "starving the channel" worldwide of satnav devices following the sale as manufacturing switched to Mitac and a new line-up was designed.
"Mitac being an [manufacturer], the last thing they want to do is buy from a competitor," he said.
"Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards."
The transition meant Navman, traditionally the number one player in Australia, lost considerable ground in August.
According to figures from research company Gfk, TomTom had 39 per cent of the Australian satnav market in the January to August period compared to Navman's 27 per cent, with TomTom's market share for August alone jumping to 44.5 per cent. Navman's share in August fell to 12 per cent.
But Fry says Navman has the biggest share for the year in Australia when mapping licences from Australian mapping provider Sensis are counted. Between 600,000 and 700,000 satnav map licences are expected to be sold by Sensis this year.
"We're still the market leader in New Zealand," said Fry.
"To some extent, it's still our homeland."
Navman still has a software development team in Auckland though the design of the new S-Series satnav devices was undertaken in Europe, with manufacturing carried out in Asian factories. Mitac also owns the mio range of satnav devices, which do not sell in New Zealand but is popular in some overseas markets.
A traffic alert service designed to work with satnav devices so that users could be informed of traffic delays and plot alternative routes will be launched in Australia next month after trials in Melbourne.
Devices currently sold by TomTom, Navman and Garmin are capable of supporting the service, but Fry said the service was complex to set up as a network of sensors feeding back traffic data had to be constructed, while the satnav software had to be upgraded.
A partnership with a broadcaster was also needed to send out the traffic updates as FM radio signals.
"In New Zealand, it unfortunately won't be around for a couple of years," he said.
TomTom and Navman are releasing satnav units that connect to mobile phones via Bluetooth, acting as hands-free kits for in-car phone use. There is also a move towards making the mapping software more flexible. TomTom has also been active on the internet, signing up 2.5 million users to TomTom Home, software that allows users to connect online to share maps they have altered to their own preferences.
Fry said the profile of a satnav device user differed greatly from the typical technology early adopter.
"A year ago, the average age of a Navman user was 47," he said.
The age was coming down as the price of the technology dropped.
Navman's new S-Series devices sell for between $599 and $999.
Mark Roberts, New Zealand branch manager for GME, the agent for satnav maker Garmin, said after-maker in-car satnav systems were unlikely to be displaced by built-in devices sold in new cars.
"Not when people have to tick the box and pay an extra $2000 for it. They're more likely to go into an electronics store and buy one for $499," he said.
Roberts said Garmin devices were selling well after a slow start last year.
