Out in Front: State of the Industry

It’s not been done before, so we’re going to do it now.

In the September issue of this magazine will appear the very first State of the Industry report. On the GNSS industry, of course. It will cover such topics as:

The Global Economy and how it affects business in your sector. Customers’ availability of capital to invest is top-of-mind for most industry professionals, whether designers, manufacturers, integrators, suppliers/dealers, or end users.

Industry Confidence in the road ahead. Is the prolonged recession over and are we on the road to recovery, or is it best to remain cautious and conservative? Just reading the stock market reports and the latest from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis or the G8 Summit doesn’t give the level of specific detail to GNSS that sound business navigation requires.

Investment for Return. How are savvy marketers implementing their business outlook? Are they ramping up advertising, web presence, search-engine optimization, exhibits and shows, deep cultivation of existing or past customer base — any or all of these? Something new?

Issues of Concern. To what extent do industry leaders take into account the following as well as further factors, and has their respective weightings of these changed since this time last year?

• Pricing and competitive issues;
• GNSS jamming, spoofing, other RF interference;
• (Lack of) compatibility or interoperability of GNSSs: GPS, GLONASS, Compass, Galileo;
• (Lack of) sufficient government funding for satellite system development or modernization;
• (Lack of) R&D funding, whether government or private, driving application development for downstream markets, to encourage GNSS adoption.

Watch for It. On July 1, the State of the Industry survey form will go live at www.gpsworld.com. We’ll collect input for about three weeks, and send ample notifications during that period. These will prominently feature the incentives for participating in the survey: entry into drawings for fab gear, likely to include one or more of the latest electronic wizard gizmos, a pair of tickets to GPS World’s Leadership Dinner in Nashville during ION-GNSS, a let’s-make-a-deal surprise, and the odd coffee-shop gift card.

Participation in the survey is naturally open to all who participate in the GNSS industry, whether as givers or takers, suppliers or end users. A subscription to this magazine is not required — though a free subscription to the Digital Edition, if you do not already have one, will be encouraged at the end of the survey.

Read It and Profit. The survey, complete with helpful infographics, will appear in the September issue and receive wide distribution at ION-GNSS, InterGeo, and other outlets.