Dash cuts 50 employees, drastically changing business model

It's hard to say if Amazon's recent fire sale of the Dash Express was an indicator of all this, but Dash is making some serious changes, regardless. Reportedly, the outfit has slashed 50 employees -- or around two-thirds of its workforce -- which will leave 30 workers who will operate primarily in engineering and support. According to now-CEO Rob Currie (who has replaced founder Paul Lego by Lego's choice), Dash "wanted to launch its device in the retail channel, but the economic changes made it rethink its business focus." To that end, Dash will actually cease making and selling its own hardware, and instead it will "license its platform to makers of automobile on-board navigation systems, smartphones, netbook-style mobile internet devices and other consumer electronics." So, what does it all mean? It could mean that the connected Dash platform is on the way to an automobile or cellphone near you, but we suppose only time will tell. As for existing Dash owners? Continued software updates and an online Dash Driver Network has been promised.

[Erwos @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:16PM]

Ouch. Still, probably a decision for the best - trying to compete in the GPS hardware business is a sucker's game to a large extent. Just lease out the current software and hardware design specs to the cloners and hope for the best...

[Peter @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:41PM]

Agreed. This is a smart move for them. The system didn't offer any real benefit over a traditional GPS or smartphone unless there was a critical mass of Dash users in the area. The price kept that from happening. Make it an add-on to my current GPS or phone and you'll get way more users which will make it more useful.

[rock99rock @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:16PM]

That was a pretty quick turnaround. Unfortunate, but hard to penetrate an already diluted market no matter how many more bells you have.

[Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:26PM]

Especially when your "bells" cost per month. Why would I go Dash when I can go Navigon, get a more standardized traffic update system for free for life? It's just a tough sell all the way around. I feel for the folks developing, but just don't think Dash makes sense in this crowded market- especially when the quality of the data relies on other uses of said product.

[Neoprimal @ Nov 3rd 2008 4:40PM]

They just got in at the worst time possible. Just a few months before the Dash was released, GPS units were being sold for 300 to 400 dollars, even for aged/aging models. A few months AFTER the Dash was released, I see GPS units, even very good ones being sold for 100 to 180. That's a pretty huge drop in just a year, technically. I got my C340 in the last quarter of 06' for 300 and now it sells for $100.
Granted, 2 years is a long time BUT, not in GPS life, usually. Had they pushed the product to market in 06', I have no doubt they'd be one of the bigwigs right now....at least competing with some of the smaller gps sellers.

[Jesse S @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:17PM]

This is actually somewhat awesome, even though it is also sad. I wanted one of these, but I already used my pdaphone for GPS, which already had internet access and was pretty powerful. I wasn't about to spend more money on a device that had pretty much the same hardware as my phone.

When this comes out for WinMo, I will buy the software in a snap.

[Testies, Testies, 1, 2... 3? @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:20PM]

+1 for you!

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:52PM]

my elusive comment magically disappeared! just like the dash!

[ryaninc @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:25PM]

Well that sucks. I really wanted a Dash, but haven't had the money for it. Guess I'll wait and see what happens next.

[KC @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:25PM]

RIM should pick these guys up and integrate the platform into Blackberry OS.

[teasphere @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:30PM]

HAHA!, after the last ad/post about Amazon heavily discounting them here on Engadget a few days back there was an employee heavily turfing the comments and responding to every negative comment with garbage spin. I called him out on it and he and some users here defended the actions saying they *love* when companies get involved in forums/comments. I said it reflects poorly and that if they had such a great product let it speak for itself, or internalize the negative comments and better the product. Obviously he disagreed, hopefully he is currently unemployed. I'll say it again, companies with a solid product have no reason to turf comments/forums it is an instant red flag when you see these kind of desperate actions.

[lowdef @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:46PM]

way to go slugger! you are the best! rocky! rocky! rocky!

[Kevin C. Tofel @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:24PM]

"hopefully he is currently unemployed"

I wouldn't wish that on anyone, regardless of my opinion of their product. That's simply distasteful and shameless.

[Paul @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:25PM]

I disagree, frankly it sounds like you are a competitor and mad that he was defending his product.

I think the companies have a responsibility to discuss their products with the consumer, as long as they do it openly and honestly, disclosing who they work for and then giving insights to the behind the scene logic ("we included this feature due to market feedback", "we ditched this one because it was too expensive", or whatever it is they may say).

[Chad @ Nov 4th 2008 12:24PM]

Wow...After reading your comment (which was difficuly considering it is barely visible) I couldn't help but realize what a douchebag you are. How terrible for a company to browse popular tech forums trying to help people with questions or listen to comments. What nerve.

Bravo. Really, bravo.

[Wayne Schulz @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:48PM]

I guess there isn't as big a market for buggy over-sized and over-priced GPS devices as they first thought....

I don't think they ever got to the phase where they could charge people for the wireless updates -- did they?

Seems to me that just as my free introductory subscription was running out they extended it another 3 or 6 months.

Traffic Reports, imho, are way over-rated and not worth subscribing to. And not for nothin' but , well, um the iPhone has all the location crap freely available ... and other phones with GPS capabilities weren't going to be far behind

RIP is right -- stick a fork in 'em...

[Paul @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:26PM]

Traffic reports overrated? Uhh do you live in Kansas or something?

Are they worth paying for? No, not to me, but live on one of the coasts and then try to claim they are overrated.

[idiot @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:11PM]

wait wait wait...Lego? No wonder they are going down. I mean, how many good choices can a piece of injected plastic make?

[Brian (redban) @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:14PM]

Hmmm..

Been testing the dash the last month FOR DASH, so I wonder if I get to keep my unit now.. hahah.. Unfortunately the the Dash sucks BAD.. but the traffic is great. I would love to see the traffic tech on my Garmin.

[Djscoe @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:55PM]

I agree, the traffic was great but the GPS was awful. I waited and waited for the software to get better but finally sold it. I miss the traffic because my Garmin 770 has the expensive Traffic Receiver that is really bad. The traffic reports are about 20 minutes behind reality. The GPS is great though. Too bad someone can't put both together.

[Opie and Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:29PM]

WOW..
I almost pulled the trigger abd bought the unit when Amazon had it for $100 until I heard other places were marking it down for around the same price.

Guess I might be able to get one cheap now. I guess it they are going to sell the technology to other companies then there still will be support... if someone wants what they offer that is.

[Jeffrey @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:34PM]

Why this wasn't their plan from day one is what has always confused me. Navigation routing is easy to do poorly and very difficult to do seamlessly - which was especially evident when the Dash would have me doing u-turns after a left turn instead of telling me to turn right in the first place. TomTom/Garmin/etc are just too far ahead.

As mentioned in an earlier comment, many modern phones can get location-based search results so the need for this service may be dwindling - and when you consider that many GPS systems now come with free OTA traffic data it makes you wonder how long the billing model will hold up - I'm talking to you XM with your crap 45 minute old traffic data on

[Jeffrey @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:38PM]

Hello character limit, nice to meet you...

[Rebecca Vanderbilt @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:45PM]

The business model was stupid to begin with. It shows a serious lack of any understanding in the market they are trying to be in.

[Jasafar @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:50PM]

I was a beta tester for Dash. It was a hopeful device... the "send to device" features and yahoo local search was sweet. But I knew when I was testing it that I would never buy one, even though Dash even gave us low pricing for being a beta tester. Do you know why? ..... monthly SUBSCRIPTION. No one will ever pay a subscription for GPS when it's primary function is getting you from point A to point B. That's like paying each month for stock quotes to show up on the front of your microwave... you can get the info elsewhere, like on your cellphone, for much cheaper. They should've taken a lesson from MSNDirect's SPOT technology!

[Jay @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:29PM]

I love the Dash, I put it in my Wife's car and she won't use anything else. Being able to send addresses from her Laptop vs writing them down and having to enter them in later is a big plus. The live traffic updates are a lifesaver, but the Hardware is a little clunky. But they have the right idea.
I have a Garmin Nuvi 770 and it is almost useless compared to the IP connected Dash.

[Johan S @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:03PM]

My main issue with the Dash is the size of the unit. The posted picture above doesn't do show the thick bulge the device has got in the back. It's like a shrunk down CRT television.

The device's size would have been an OK back in 1999 Not even 2003.

[ChillyCatz @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:31PM]

ChillyCat wrote:

Dash Express gets big v2.1 June08 software update {Engadget}
Jun 30th 2008 10:24PM
Unfortunatly, this device is and has been doomed since its inception.
To blatantly disregard standard PNA form factor's certainly a huge mistake. I've used the unit in five different vehicles, and only one has had a decent mountable area I could live with.

Overall, the units very "vanilla".......nothing about the device exceeds standards already adopted by Garmin, TomTom,etc

Look for DASH units to quickly fall in price, and soon after that....totally dissapear.

[ChillyCat @ Nov 3rd 2008 6:26PM]

Form-Factor & monthly fee's doomed this POS from the git-go

Those who were foolish enuff to have purchased this obvious
engineering & marketing flop , deserve to be stuck with this
rather "small" anchor.

[Scott P @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:10PM]

The device hardware is actually built by FIC and was developed on the OpenMoko platform - (read, it is already Linux based) and given the Google back end of the G1 it would seem an obvious and easy port to that platform. For that matter, Google ought to just buy up this company and turn the whole app out to the open-source community - now that would be progress.

[will @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:41PM]

Sad. Dash made a lot of promises, and I really felt like they had potential. The promise of live accurate traffic in So.Cal was too hard to pass up. But, the routing made the info no better than an educated guess. If Dash can/could have fixed the routing, then they may be in a different spot.

I would love to see someone, Google, maybe Garmin, take over this concept and deliver a device that integrates live traffic into a device that can actually route around it.

[greg @ Nov 7th 2008 4:12PM]

I work for the company that actually provides the traffic data to Dash. We have a project that integrates and routes live traffic, and most of the other companies that do hardware(we don't, btw) have something on the burner. The key is having good traffic data. Good thing we have no competitors close to us (although you never know what Google may be up to....)

[mikecis @ Nov 15th 2008 9:05PM]

Any idea what this means to us Beta testers that have the unit? I have had it for a month of my four month trial.
I think at the end of that time we were going to be offered the unit for the "discount" price of $199 (the price Amazon was selling for)
for doing the beta test.