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Helsinki - More than a million a smartphone users have downloaded the free navigation software that Nokia started offering last month, the world's leading mobile phone maker said on Wednesday.
"We're averaging a download a second, 24 hours a day," Nokia executive vice president Anssi Vanjoki said in a statement, adding that the number of users was "growing faster than even we predicted."
In January, Nokia put pressure on players in the satellite navigation industry - like Tom Tom and Garmin - by offering car and pedestrian navigation for free to its smartphone users across the world.
The new version of Nokia's Ovi Maps navigation software was downloaded one million times within a week of the launch, the Finnish company said, adding it had been downloaded 1.4 million times in total.
Smartphone users in China, Italy, and Britain have been the most active takers, it said.
At the end of 2009, some 25.9 million people were estimated to have been active users of GPS navigation on their mobile phones, according to research firm Canalys, cited in the Nokia statement.
"The success of the new version (of) Ovi Maps is a key part of Nokia's strategy to lead the market in mobile maps, navigation and location-based services," it said.
With the free navigation application, Nokia hopes to strengthen its position in the smartphone market, where it has faced tough competition from the likes of Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
Last week, the Finnish firm surprised analysts with news it had won ground in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter, helped by new products.
- AFP
