Nearly 30% of U.S. households to have GPS by the end of 2007

Marketing Daily has published details of a survey on the GPS market in the U.S. As the headline says, one finding is that almost 30% of U.S. households either have a GPS or plan to buy one this year.

Here’s a breakdown of GPS ownership by income:

• Almost 20% of households earning over $75,000 have a GPS
• Around 10% of households earning between $25,000 and $50,000 have a GPS
• 3% of households with income below $25,000 have a GPS

The study also reports market share data for October and November 2006,
showing continued dominance by Garmin (47% of the U.S. market) and a
bit of a resurgence from Magellan, which doubled their share to 19%.
TomTom slipped to number three with an 11% share.

There are also some odds and ends reported — 15% of respondents said that GPS had changed their lives, while 75% don’t want their GPS to show unsolicited advertising. 

Now I know all about the promise of location based services, but that last figure leads me to believe that the remaining 25% are crazy! I might consider accepting ads, if I got something in return — free traffic services, free Wi-Max, or a free GPS receiver. Hey, I can dream can’t I? Seriously, sooner or later, we will see different models emerge that integrate advertising, hopefully in exchange for something else.

Read the full story on this GPS market analysis.