GPS Industry Shifts Away from Traditional Markets and Embraces Indoor Location Technology

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GPS personal tracking device shipments will more than double by 2021 with a 21% CAGR as the industry shifts away from traditional markets, such as family and pet locator devices. ABI Research predicts that non-traditional markets including elderly/health, corporate, and personal asset tracking will embrace ubiquitous indoor and outdoor location technology.

“Traditional markets still attract attention, given the huge total available market, but they remain too fragmented, with no obvious sales and distribution channels,” says Patrick Connolly, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. “As a result, a number of established companies in this space are being forced to consider new areas to find future growth.”

New healthcare applications in elderly, dementia, and remote patient monitoring, for instance, have great potential. ABI Research anticipates location-enabled health devices to break two million shipments by 2021. “When you consider the fact that average healthcare spending is increasing at a time when approximately 30% of U.S. hospitals are losing money, there is an immediate need for technology to remove the inefficiencies of the current market,” continues Connolly.

Meanwhile, the lone worker market shows significant acquisition activity, which is leading to an increase in pricing pressures as companies look to buy market share. ABI Research finds this to be a dangerous strategy in a market that will not scale rapidly. But the technology is there to support more stringent legislation, and indoor location will open up new applications and services in corporate.

“We see stronger device shipments in corporate, industrial and personal asset tracking, with a combined total exceeding 25 million by 2021,” concludes Connolly. “BLE beacons will open up these markets, but we also see a host of other technologies emerging, such as UWB, sensor fusion, magnet field, proprietary Wi-Fi and LPWAN. We believe this will spark demand for ‘outdoor’ technologies like GPS.”

About ABI Research

ABI Research stands at the forefront of technology market research, providing business leaders with comprehensive research and consulting services to help them implement informed, transformative technology decisions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the company’s global team of senior and long-tenured analysts delivers deep market data forecasts, analyses, and teardown services. ABI Research is an industry pioneer, proactively uncovering ground-breaking business cycles and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations.