How can I get to Taoranting from Yuyuantan? Which is the best driving routine? And which way is most fast and convenient by a bus? Browse Baidu map search, google local map search or Sohu Go2map, just input the starting point and your destination, then an electronic map will immediately shown up——including the best bus routine, bus stops along the routine and supply devices like gas stations. Yes, this is what functions electronic maps have.
Electronic map has manifest advantages over traditional maps from bindery. Vice President, Asia-Pacific & Latin America of Google, Inc. said, the average cost of content of a yellow page is about 1 USD, but it takes 20 USD to search for these pages. What’s more, it’s impossible for yellow pages to provide so meticulous map services.”
Electronic maps are used in a broad range. According to European market situation, the most valuable use of electronic maps is in fields like cars, cell phones and internet. “The increasing demand for navigation by internet, car electronics and wireless portable devices creates a great developmental chance for electronic map industry in China”, said CCID advisor and analyst Liang Meng to <China Modern Enterprises Newspaper>. He made further explanation that mobile positioning service for car navigation, mobile phone navigation and other mobile engines is a profitable area of investment. Boost of aptitude traffic only can make great opportunities for development of electronic map industry. Development of logistics, tourism and other markets can also ush a new generation of electronic map industry.
Secrets of the trade revealed that in the following three years, there will be a explosive development in this area. Prediction goes like except for the present GPS navigation, electronic map will be used in a much more broad range by 2008. “China’s electronic map is not practical enough, but the mass consumer team of internet will greatly push development of the industry. By 2008, people’s daily life will all depend on electronic maps. And it will come into being an industry of ten billion”, said Li Chengming Superintendent of GIS Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Surveying & Mapping and National Geophysical Research Institute.
It can be said to be the application year of electronic maps, said Tang Yujin, manager of strategic developmental department of Beijing Lingtu Software Co., Ltd. Tang Yujin said to <Chinese Modern Enterprises Newspaper> that electronic maps can be used in almost all trades. Positioning services like WAP and JAVA in electronic yellow pages bring great convenience to people’s common life.
“Year 2006 is not a common year to the development of electronic map industry. The markets have manifested its value. All kinds of software platforms have completed preparation, and cost has decreased to a level of mass generate. All these cater fast application of electronic maps.” Tang Yujin said excitedly when talking about the situation of electronic map development.
Although electronic map industry has a promising future, it confronts a series of problems to settle down. “Although electronic map industry faces prosperous market opportunities, no enterprises can make big money depending merely on electronic map data base. The whole industry is now in an unhealthy situation”, Liang Meng feels misgivings about the puzzle Dom the electronic map industry confronts.
At present, the government monitors the electronic map industry via strict import and export control. The measure is to issue “admittance permit” by formulating enterprise qualification standard by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping of China. And enterprises with surveying and mapping qualification have to submit for approval before publishing its products. There are more than 100 enterprises supplying map data, however, only Beijing NavInfo Co.,Ltd, Shanghai Changxiang Computer Co., Ltd., Beijing Gaode, Beijing Lingtu Software, Beijing Ritu, Kailide, Wuhan Geo and Yitu have surveying and mapping qualification. And only the navigation software magnate in China-DestinatorTechnologies rebuilt the navigation software and encrypted the plug-in and passed the official approval.
High industry threshold causes illegal activities of many manufacturers and traders. “The biggest problem of electronic map industry in China is illegality”, said Li Chengming. And pirate is severe in electronic industry. Nonstandard behavior like random copy, price decreasing, and malignant competition of price prevents small-sized companies adopting proper status to survive. Price strategy becomes the most effective measurement to enhance competitive capability.
Some electronic map supplier said to “China Modern Enterprises Newspaper” that there is a vicious circle in the domestic electronic map market. On the one hand, illegal products are full of the market, which leads to price chaos. On the other hand, consumers misunderstand the true value of electronic map products due to products with low quality.
Liang Meng thought that at present it’s a common phenomenon that resources of electronic map industry are seriously wasted. Not only that benign circle and cooperation can be formed, but that resources and markets conflict frequently either. In the mature market abroad, electronic map data are not produced by one only company.
Generally speaking, enterprises with surveying and mapping qualification collecting routine information, specialized enterprises conducting interest points, and medium or professional software companies integrating interest point into the internet, all steps result in a whole electronic map, and then special map data companies sell the map to car, electronic appliance and other front device manufacturers or to terminal portable product like PDA mobile phone producers and to mobile devices traders and internet enterprises. But in case of China, almost all steps including map information collection, facture and sale are done by one company. Another company does the same but using different facture standard and procedure. Such phenomenon leads to the fact that there is no united standard in the field of map, software and hardware. And when products come into being, it is inevitable to set personal version for every consumer. For this reason, products can not be promoted widely in the market. And finally, a waste of money and labor is caused.
How can electronic map industry get out of such chaos? Experts in trade told “China Modern Enterprises Newspaper” that the most important for the government is to carry out standard s for electronic map industry as soon as possible. In order to make a healthy developmental environment for electronic map industry, it’s necessary for relative regulations of the government, practitioners and consumers to interact benignly.
Meanwhile, the government needs to support large businesses of electronic maps to ensure their production in scale. This action can help to form industry standards, and to drive development of other companies involving electronic map production. At the same time, the government could provide incentive policies regard to ground electronic map data to normal businesses so that such businesses can obtain ground mapping data quickly but at a low cost.
Liang Meng also said that the research and development enterprises, and the manufacturers of electronic map suppliers need to intensify market promotion, and unite navigation application enterprises as well as GIS enterprises, together with other enterprises in the product chain to propagandize in the markets and to enhance public understanding about the true value of electronic maps.