Wednesday, January 21. 2009

Hybrid Positioning Market Prediction

In a press release I must have missed from last week but which I think is significant, ABI Research offered predictions on the market potential of hybrid positioning systems. That is, when one form of position determination is not available, others must be available on the same handset. Dominique Bonte, ABI's principal analyst for telematics and navigation (see my podcast interview with him from last August on LBS) states that, "Users expect a seamless and transparent location experience regardless of application or environment...Since no single positioning technology can provide this, the future will be about hybrid positioning systems, combining A-GPS, Cell-ID, Wi-Fi, cellular, motion sensors, and even TV broadcast and proximity technologies such as Bluetooth, NFC and RFID. A-GPS, Wi-Fi and Cell-ID will be the winning combination offering accuracy, availability, interoperability and short fix times at low cost. It will represent 25% of all positioning solutions by 2014. Stand-alone Cell-ID and/or Wi-Fi will remain important in regions with low GPS handset penetration."

So, here are a few questions:

1. What's the size of the handset or chip set that must be equipped with all of these various positioning options?

2. Will there eventually be a nationwide network of just one or two technologies that win out over the long term?

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