An In-Depth Overview of the GNSS Market
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Market Overview
Below are several key GNSS market forecasts compiled by ABI Research:
- The majority of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) chipset shipments for handsets belong to smartphones, accounting for 95% of GNSS handset shipments in 2020 and due to grow to over 99% by 2026.
- Wearables are one of the largest growing segments for GNSS adoption. ABI Research estimates that GNSS market revenue from wearables will grow from US$84 million in 2020 to US$297 million in 2026, driven by the increasing popularity of smartwatches and sports/fitness/wellness trackers, as well as growth in newer options, such as smart glasses and connected clothing.
- Consumer and mass-market GNSS devices, including handsets, wearables, asset trackers, and others, heavily outnumber professional and automotive applications, accounting for over 95% of total shipments worldwide.
- According to ABI Research, there were more than 1.4 billion GNSS chipset shipments for handsets in 2021. This number is expected to grow conservatively to 1.6 billion by 2026 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 2.7%.
- The limited growth in handsets is reflective of a market segment that is both very well established and saturated—most consumers own a smartphone and every smartphone now supports GNSS.
- An estimated 1.28 billion L1-only GNSS chipsets shipped in 2021, a number that will grow to 1.45 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 3.9%.
- The vast majority of GNSS chipsets are now also expected to support multi-constellations, bringing benefits like improved redundancy, reduced Time to First Fix (TTFF), and better satellite Line-of-Sight (LOS) availability. In 2021, ABI Research expects that 59% of GNSS chipsets shipped supported all four GNSS constellations (Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou), which will grow to over 70% by 2026.
“As the GNSS market has grown and developed, the wider ecosystem of location technologies has reached a point where many solutions are positioned to both compete with and complement GNSS solutions.” – Mark Qi, Analyst at ABI Research
Key Decision Items
Recognize the Necessity of Multi-Frequency GNSS
Users of powerful location devices will want to not only leverage the most powerful GNSS solution available, but will involve additional technology either for correction or hybrid positioning. For example, in areas where GNSS has historically run into trouble, L5 signals should perform better.
Therefore, manufacturers of the following devices should focus on multi-frequency GNSS solutions:
- Smartphones
- Laptops, tablets, and other large consumer devices
- High-end wearables like smartwatches and Augmented Reality (AR) glasses
- Large Internet of Things (IoT)-based asset tracking devices
It is worth exercising caution, however, as dual frequency is not a silver bullet for the limitations of GNSS; instead, hybrid solutions will likely come out on top in terms of effectiveness.
Combine a GNSS Solution with Other Location Technologies
Premium mass-market location solutions should include GNSS as only one component, paving the way for hybrid solutions. On a module level, it is both common and beneficial to include additional components that can be leveraged for location, such as Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) connectivity, Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), or even proprietary Intellectual Property (IP) for unique location solutions, such as those from Nestwave. In addition, including hybrid location capability can be done on a firmware or software level, and as will be pointed out in the next section, forming partnerships is key here.
Leverage Partnerships to Support Hybrid Location Positioning Solutions
Collaboration should be seen as a core requirement to unlock the true potential of hybrid location solutions. One of the best examples comes from Qualcomm. The San Diego, California-based semiconductor company has integrated the positioning technology of multiple third parties, including Polaris Wireless, NextNav, and Skyhook, in order to bolster its mobile platform. Moreover, Qualcomm’s partnership with positioning services company Trimble has demonstrated that Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) and Precise Point Positioning (PPP) GNSS correction, technologies historically reserved for the automotive industry, can be applied to mass-market devices (in this case, for smartphones).
Address the Demand for Small-Scale Positioning Solutions
The use cases that will drive GNSS solutions volume, much more so than now, will be looking toward more scalable, lower-cost, and smaller form factor positioning solutions. When it comes to the necessary coverage and chipset availability for these sorts of applications, GNSS has not been particularly effective, to date, thanks to its high power drain. However, in many cases, it was the only option.
As IoT networks, such as LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and Narrowband Long Term Evolution (NB-IoT)/LTE-M, are quickly developing, producers of ultra-low power, high-volume commodity solutions may be looking to migrate away from GNSS. In the long term, no matter how efficient, standalone GNSS solutions will be outperformed in terms of efficiency by a consolidated communication-plus-location solution. However, incremental improvements in GNSS performance will stand for the short to medium term, as these emerging solutions compete for market share and as newer technologies are still maturing.
Moving forward, GNSS vendors will have to continue focusing and innovating on their key performance metrics—price, power, and accuracy—in order to prove valuable among a growing market of competing solutions.
Key Market Players to Watch
- Allystar
- Broadcom Limited
- HERE Technologies
- HiSilicon
- Maxim Integrated
- MediaTek Inc
- NextNav
- Qualcomm Inc
- Quectel
- Samsung
- STMicroelectronics
- Telit
- UNISOC
Dig Deeper for the Full Picture
For a more detailed discussion and analysis of the most important trends shaping the future of the GNSS market, download ABI Research’s GNSS Mass Market Update research report.
Not ready for the report yet? Check out our following Analyst Insights:
- Dual-Frequency GNSS Gaining Momentum in High-End Consumer Products
- The Accelerating Search for Resilient GNSS Alternatives Will Bring Many Location Solutions to the Market
- The Industry 4.0 Ecosystem is Expanding, Enabled by Location Technologies
This content is part of the company’s Location Technologies Research Service.
