GPS Business News editor Ludovic Privat and I have agreed to disagree about the PND market …

I believe we are seeing the end of the PND growth in the US and Europe. In CEE, the market is just starting and the growth is there – as well as in the Middle East, where demand not only exceeds supply but users want more than what’s currently on offer.

China’s PND market is not a healthy one:  too much on offer, map piracy, inadequate profits for the hardware guys...

One thing that strikes me about the global navigation and location markets is the rapid pace of change.

It’s not only the products and technology that are in constant flux, but consumer demand and market strength also fluctuate considerably.

I’ve been hammering through my research on the Indian navigation market of late and have had some really interesting conversations with most of the key companies.

I can say this for sure – everyone is salivating at the sheer possibilities of the market. The numbers alone all point to massive profits and are getting people very excited.

And why not? 240 million mobile phone subscribers and 2 million new cars sold every year is not a bad starting point!

Plus there are other drivers and peculiarities that have caught my interest:

TomTom has reported an 83% decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2008. Is this a sign of things to come for the PND market and navigation industry? Are the good times over? Have a look at the official quarterly results here. In 2007 Q1 net profits were €44 million, but you'll notice that Q1 2008 there was a significant decline to €7 million.

It's been a glum couple of weeks for the navigation industry... Is the honeymoon period over? Well judging by recent news it seems that the party may be winding down. GPS chip manufacturers Sirf Technology has certainly felt the crunch. After announcing plans to lay off 7% of their workforce and with share prices sinking the firm is warning of hard times ahead.