INTERVIEW-Navigon sees further fall in European PND market
* Sees European PND market volume down 10 pct in 2010
* Sees market falling by 'single digit' percentage in 2011
* Says PND sales in Germany up 10 pct yr/yr in last 5 weeks
* Targets 10% European market share by end-year vs 9% now
* Aims for 1 percentage point/yr market share growth
By Tarmo Virki, European Technology Correspondent
BERLIN, Sept 6 (Reuters) - European personal navigation device (PND) market volumes will fall further next year after a 10 percent drop this year, the chief executive of Navigon, Europe's third largest maker, said.
Navigon expects the market in 2011 to decline slightly in units, by a single-digit percentage, Egon Minar told Reuters, adding differences between countries were large and in some markets demand had started to recover.
"The growth potential is still there," Minar said in an interview, adding that in the last five weeks the market volume has increased 10 percent year-on-year in Germany.
Navigon, which has a strong position in German-speaking countries, holds 9 percent of the overall European market, well behind market leaders TomTom (TOM2.AS) and Garmin (GRMN.O).
Minar said the company aims to reach a 10 percent market share by the end of the year and to further increase its share by 1 percentage point annually.
"The market is consolidating. In the end there will be four big players," Minar said on the sidelines of the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin.
"The market needs three to four players, two is not enough for retailers, they don't like it."
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
((tarmo.virki@reuters.com, +358-9-680 50 235, Reuters messaging: tarmo.virki.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: NAVIGON/
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