TomTom and Garmin Lose Their Way

"Makers of personal navigation devices are facing tough times
from keen competition—namely cell phones—and a weakening
economy..."

Business Week article: http://www.starturl.com/Lost

wrote:

So -- I'm going to mount a cell phone on the dash of my car in place
of my GPS???

Right.

Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names wrote:


Or likewise I am going on a hike with my cellphone, which lasts not even a
day when using GPS? And will break down if I (or it) get a bit wet? :)

Well, granted: The outdoor GPS devices will now turn back to being just
that -- outdoor GPS devices.

Arne

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[--- PGP key FD05BED7 --- http://www.root42.de/ ---]

Arne Schmitz wrote:



I've seen it being used like that. I can't for the life of me fathom why
anyone would want a 1.5 inch screen to show them around while driving, but
they're doing it.


The argument was more that people were ONCE using outdoor GPS receivers in
their cars, and now not because the 1.5 inch screen form factor is more
attractive. Perhaps...


There is no argument there. But I don't think the outdoor market had ever
improved, there was just that phase where your only option in a car was an
outdoor style gps. That's where their sales had magically appeared from.

However now, when you can integrate a phone, pda, gps receiver and any such
else crap onto one candybar factor box (and it appears cheaper) why wouldn't you?

My speculation is that that GPS (especially in the phone arena) is well and
truly still in the honeymoon stage, and when that appeal finally wears off,
people will change to units that better suit the conditions they're using them
for.
I *really* wouldn't pay attention to the "woe is me" sales figures they're
giving us, they're only transient effects while units are being 'tested' in
the market, even though they're clearly not suited there.

Nothing inherently wrong with that- they're just testing the market after
all. Just you do tend to get a lot of sky is falling disaster press releases
because what they thought was a good thing, now turns out it DOES have just a
niche in the industry, not grabbing an entire chunk of the game they thought
it would (or they knew EXACTLY what was going to happen, but want to scream
about it anyway to minimise "losses").
--
Linux Registered User # 302622

Many cellphones don't have a GPS receiver - they triangulate on
cellphone towers to determine their position. 5 or soyears ago, I
had a VX6000 from LG. By getting into the service menu and starting
the positioning application, I was able to find my land coordinates.
It would vary as I moved. Wasn't very accurate though around +-50
feet. I suspect they are using that method for some of the GPS
services.