Shipments of personal navigation devices are in decline as more people are able to download free and paid-for mobile apps that offer turn-by-turn maps.

While shipments of PNDs declined by 5m between 2011 to 2012, from 33m to 28m, monthly users of turn-by-turn mobile apps have grown from 105m to 150m. More than half of this usage comes from apps that pre-installed on handsets from the likes of Google, Nokia, Apple and Blackberry. Berg Insight, which created the report, predicts that PND use will fall to 17m by 2017.

Although part of this decline is attributed to lower consumer spending after the financial crisis, there is a saturation in many mature markets that is not being countered by shipment growth in Eastern Europe, Latin America and India. The devices are facing competition from smartphone apps, either pre-installed, free or paid-for, and will struggle more as car manufacturers offer satnav in-car as standard, the report said.

TomTom, perhaps the most well-known and successful sat nav system in the world, has already made efforts to diversify its proposition. Last week the company launched a GPS sports watch that runs on Nike’s ecosystem and integrates with other popular exercise platforms. Its mapping system is also being used in the latest version of iOS.

App developers and operators are not immune from financial pressure, the report adds, and they are now trying to monetise services by introducing advertising and premium features like traffic information, speed camera alerts and parking space information. “Stimulating usage is important for app developers and mobile operators that want to pursue additional revenues from advertising”, said  André Malm, senior analyst at Berg Insight.