According to a new research report by Berg Insight, global shipments of GPS-enabled handsets is expected to grow from 175 million units in 2007 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.2 percent to reach 560 million units in 2012.

Rapid adoption of GPS technology in mass-market GSM/WCDMA handsets will be the main driver. “Last year marked the breakthrough for GPS outside the CDMA-market with successful product launches by Nokia and others”, commented André Malm, telecom analyst, Berg Insight. “This year we expect to see an abundance of new models supporting GPS from all major brands. By 2009, GPS is going to be a must-have in all high-end handsets.”

Berg Insight believes that the increasing penetration for GPS in GSM/WCDMA handsets will trigger a wave of innovations in the field of location-based services. “The availability of accurate position data in mobile devices creates exciting new opportunities for developers of local search, navigation and social networking applications”, said Mr Malm. “Nokia and Google will be two of the foremost players in this arena but there is a good chance that the development will also give birth to the next Facebook or MySpace.”