Nokia has been inundated with requests for its Ovi Maps application, with 1.4 million downloads since Jan 21, when it made the service available for free.
The vendor says it cleared its first million downloads within a week, and is averaging one download every 24 seconds.
EVP Anssi Vanjoki says the firm is surprised by the demand for its walk and drive navigation service, adding that the growth is also fuelling demand for location-based software. “The number of people now using their Nokia for navigation…is growing faster than even we predicted.”
Nokia’s maps are most popular in China, followed by Italy, UK, Germany, and Spain.
The service is likely to get more popular next month, when Nokia begins embedding Ovi Maps in all new smartphones shipped.
Research firm Canalys estimates some 25.9 million people were actively using GPS on their mobile phones by end 2009.