SEOUL, KOREA - Korea's market for automobile navigators is shrinking rapidly. The number of navigators in use was 1.8 million in 2009 but it has since declined to the 1-million level as of the end of 2013. The biggest enemy to this plummeting demand was none other than the smartphone and the free-of-charge navigator apps provided by telecom companies such as SK Telecom.

 

 

 

The navigator market once crowded with 50 small and large suppliers is today claimed by two big companies, ThinkWare Inc. and Fine Digital Inc. The two are now responsible for about 70-80 percent of the market. The main recipe for their survival was the continuous update of the software. For example, ThinkWare has given six updates in a year, including 3D maps and satellite maps. In order to improve its navigation services, the company even acquired electronic map maker MI Works. Fine Digital also has strengthened its services by providing new features such as the "4D Around View" that helps the motorist park safely with 360-degree view images.

 

The two companies are also active in moving overseas away from the saturated domestic market. ThinkWare began selling its tablet computers for educational purposes to Turkey and is now making about 10 percent of its sales revenue from the tablets. Fine Digital is also set to move into the Chinese navigator market by taking advantage of its local partner's electronic map databases.

 

A ThinkWare official said, "Even if the devices market would disappear within a few years, the demand for software based on the navigator technology will keep rising. That's because the company is still investing in software development projects such as a smartphone app for locational-based services and the 3D navigator software.