Mobile navigation developer ALK Technologies, the company behind CoPilot Live mobile navigation apps, says 82% of its users are unlikely to purchase a dedicated sat nav device in the future. This news reinforces recent reports that suggest smartphones are continuing to threaten the in-car dominance of dedicated satellite navigation hardware.
The survey of 5,000 app users also revealed that 65% of respondents use CoPilot Live at least once a week, which suggests it’s used as a genuine alternative to a dedicated system.
David Quin, marketing director of CoPilot Live navigation at ALK Technologies, said “This survey is concrete evidence that smartphone navigation is a direct threat to dedicated devices. Full-featured apps like CoPilot Live now provide the same advanced guidance features and detailed maps of a high-end sat nav on a wide range of handsets, and that for the majority, there’s no going back. As smartphones reach mass market penetration it is inevitable that the dedicated device will become the niche product.”