China has huge market for car-use GPS maps

In the next three years, China's market capacity of electronic GPS maps used in vehicles may exceed 10 billion yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars), insiders estimated.

According to figures from the China Automobile Industry Association, China's auto output in 2005 reached 2.7 million, up 20 percent year on year.

If 30 percent of automobiles use electronic GPS maps, each of which is worth 5,000 yuan, car-use GPS maps worth 10 billion yuan will be sold in China in the next three years, said Fan Wenjian, spokesperson of the Shinco company, which started research and development in this area three years ago.

People first put electronic GPS maps in vehicles in the 1990s and market demand has been growing very fast since then.

Maps can help car drivers to choose travel routes, and people can easily find the exact positions of restaurants, supermarkets, hospitals and other facilities on the map.

Source: Xinhua