50% of Nokia mobile phones should have GPS by 2010

16 May 2008

Nokia use lucrative GPS to generate new revenue

Michael Halbherr, head of Nokia's location-based activities, has declared that half of all Nokia mobile phones will feature SatNav facilities by 2010.

The reason behind the move is to give Nokia a new revenue stream in the face of decreasing handset prices, world-wide.

Halbherr told Reuters that, "We are planning to ship 35 million GPS units this year and many more location-enabled phones that use cell-towers to orient themselves on the map. You will see few 'E' or 'N' Series phones without GPS."

There is a potentially wider benefit for all GPS-based Nokia phones. The more handsets that feature GPS and the more that people use the facility, the more that the Nokia Maps facility will be updated in real time for the benefit of all Nokia users.

Last year, Nokia sold 437 million phones and it expects growth to continue by 10%, this year. Reuters reported that the company also sold 38 million phones in its multimedia range ‘N Series' and some 7 million ‘E Series' business phones.

Click to read Reuters story