GPS, Manufacturers redirecting R&D on declining GPS device orders?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted December 2nd 2009 1:44AM
posted December 2nd 2009 1:44AM
If you enjoy the decimation of an industry as much as Google does then you're going to love the latest rumor sourced from DigiTimes' manufacturing moles. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, personal navigation device R&D teams at the manufacturing powerhouses of Foxconn (aka, Hon Hai) and Wistron have been shifted to other devices in the face of "declining PND orders." Seems logical as GPS-equipped smartphones snuff out their dedicated forebears with the same converged precision that turned wrist watches into items of fashion. The strange part of this DigiTimes rumor is that said manufacturers have shifted those PND teams to focus on e-book readers and (are you ready?) MIDs. Man, if the world's largest manufacturer of consumer electronics sees MIDs as a more economically viable option than personal navigators, well, maybe things are more dire for TomTom and Garmin than originally feared.
How is this surprising? With netbooks being all the rage this holiday, devices like the crunchpad, and people constantly demanding superior browser support in their mp3 players, of course MIDs are going to be more economically viable than turn by turn navigation that is provided as a free service by our government...
@scl23enN4m3
Oh and didn't the nook sell out and didn't the kindle reach record sales recently?
@scl23enN4m3 Yes, because the maps, voices, and UI are all gifts from our government.
The government put satellites in space that go "PING date/time," "PING date/time," "PING date/time." Everything else is courtesy of the private sector.
@scl23enN4m3 I think every time they sell another kindle it reaches a new record sale
Myself, I've replaced my broken Magellan with a Navigon. I'll probably buy another one in two years time because it will be cheaper than a map update as my town is replacing bridges and main highways over the next 4 years.
We are obviously meant to infer that the MID is an Apple tablet. You guys need more coffee.
My store sold a record number of PNDs this past Black Friday, so as much as Engadget is falling over itself to take every opportunity to declare the market for them dead, I just don't think that's in line with reality.
@(Unverified)
I agree. As long as cell phone based GPS navigation requires a $30/month data plan, it will be a niche market.
@jgibbs3718
The thing people need to understand, is that using GPS on a cellphone is very uncommon due to the requirement of an expensive data plan (as noted by the above commenter). But taking away users who have GPS on their cellphones from the entire PND market removes maybe 5% from the market if even that. It's a tiny market and will never kill the pnd market. There are too many un-tech-savvy people that prefer a standalone pnd over a fancy technological cellphone anyday.
IMO, if Google Nav gets to iPhone I would use it. But I would not get rid of my Garmin... I wonder how many accidents will come from people who receive a call while use the iPhone NAV and lose control cause they are on the phone and trying to figure out where they are going. It will be short lived in CA. :(
The device separation is a lot smoother.
@UnsilentMajority I think its nice to see google having a few good exclusive features on their own platform.
PND's will live on. Many people prefer a dedicated device to an all in one.
Catastrophe. People don't need GPS in their pocket projector when they already have it in their phone, camera, car, PMP and who knows where else.
If wristwatches are simply items of fashion, then I must be a fashion whore. Wait, I'm not. I just find it convenient to have something to tell me the time OUT OF MY POCKET at all times, simple, no need to push any buttons, no alarm...
Convergence is a good thing. It happens over time. But dedicated devices will always be superior. Better to have something do one thing very well than a bunch of things poorly.
I don't know how people can think that a phone's GPS is superior to a dedicated device. Phones don't even rely on satellites when navigating; rather, they rely on your position to the nearest tower when triangulating your position on a map. When you don't have cell service, you don't have GPS service. GPS devices work off of satellite reception, so you can use them in places you could never conceive of using a cell phone
@r34p3r errm, yeah, phones with GPS recievers HAVE got satalite GPS. nokia n95, n96, n97, n82, n85, n86, SE c905, apple iPhone 3G +3GS, etc etc.
they just use cell tower information as well, called a-GPS, something which is available on most phones without the GPS reciever. this makes them more accurate, maybe more accurate than crappy standalone GPS units.
and the combining of devices is for convinience. i dont want to have to carry a bag full of devices, instead i can use my phone to replace my camera, gps, games console, ipod, mass storage device, internet browser, word processor etc etc.
carrying all that around would mean carrying £580 worth of separates, a laptop, and still carrying a phone. why bother when i can just take my phone? sure it might not be as good quality as the separates, but its a heck lot lighter.
@r34p3r: So much misinformation in one little paragraph...
In a way it serves companies like Tom Tom right; rather than develop their offerings to improve (for example) the speed and quality of information displayed (no more straight line roads!), or look at ways of increasing battery life so we don't have to suffer the ugliness of a cable coming from your windscreen to your cigarette lighter socket, all Tom Tom wanted to do was bring out new model after model that obviously did nothing more than the previous version, just changed its name and increased its price. Sure, we got added traffic information; but at a subscription cost - sorry, but I dont want to update my device for something that does the same thing but costs another £100 plus monthly/yearly subscription to utilise its new feature(s).
I think there will always be a place for these devices in our cars (because sometimes a dedicated device is better than faffing about with other converged devices) until manufacturers start building them into cars; but until then, the likes of Tom Tom need to go back to basics and give us the best PND they can at a decent price. As I said, priorities for me are battery life, ease of use (Tom Tom is good but could be better!) and I'd love a better graphical display (real bends in roads!) ... and of course a reduced price, not £100 more than the previous model it replaced!
@(Unverified) Why do you care about battery life? How often do you actually use your PND off the cradle? I find it hard to believe anyone actually cares that much about "real bends in roads" either; it's not like slightly jagged turns in any way cause confusion about what the turn is going to be like, and besides: higher res maps mean larger maps mean longer loading times.
There really is a place for dedicated GPS devices. For example, rugged GPS for people who go camping, or who simply do not want to have an iPhone or Google phone. I like simpler devices. I have a good quality camera; a low end, simple to use, cheap monthly plan cell phone; and a dedicated email device [Peek]. Each alone is superior in what it does than a convergent device with functionality of all three. The cost of maintaining service for those devices is much less. Yes, I have to carry three devices with me, but, I always have a messenger-type bag with me. GPS only devices are not dead, but, they will have to figure out how to compete in the market place differently, now.
No, the market for PND's is not dead, and certainly not in favor of MID's. This should however, force garmin and tomtom to make a better product, with fewer iterations in the marketplace at the same time, at a better price. If an android smartphone costs 2 bills on contract, with google nav included (for free), a PND should really be half that, whether it comes with voice recognition or not. The frustration I have with PND's, and the reason I do not yet have one, is that there are literally 29 different garmin nüvi models (that I can find on amazon) to choose from, all ranging from under $100 to over $400 -- and for what? What's the difference between a $100 nüvi and a $400 one? Voice recognition, traffic updates, and configurable vehicle icons. WTF? Portable nav is portable nav, they all take forever to acquire a freakin satellite, no matter whether I can talk to it or whether I can change the vehicle icon to a tank if I choose.
And because there was no real competition, they got away with that nonsense. Well, now there is. It's like that article last night about the fate of nokia. The companies won't go away, they'll just have to figure out how to remain viable in their respective markets. That's all. And if they do, we [the consumer] will benefit. Having a converged device works for me, and is why I don't need a PND. But my wife and father, who are not tech savvy at all, could use one, and they make pretty good stocking stuffers at under $100. Take the hint garmin.
@JMichels My nuvi takes literally three seconds to lock on once I pull up the map, so long as it's in the same place it was when I last turned it off (which it pretty much always is, since I only use it in the car). So no, they don't all take forever to get a signal.
gps device was destined as another service to be incorporated into phones. Smart phones will have everything we need electronically, it is just a natural path of development. Things get smaller, more functional, and more usable (wink wink at tomtom)
Maybe they are not going to focus on Hardware update as much anymore and focus on User interfaces.
The GPS hardware has become 'good enough' & 'small enough' for the average consumer. And since anything can just about have a GPS chip in it now a days the real deciding factor will be the front end software. So your new iphone has a GPS chip.... now which software will you buy to effectively use it?
I think it is a case of lost in translation. When they say MID's, they really mean "Tablet".
I travel a lot and really depend on my Garmin to get around. On a recent trip when I realized I'd forgotten it at home, I immediately went out and bought a second one.
I have tried navigation on Blackberry and on my LG Voyager and they are both a total joke compared to the Garmin. I found both to be nearly useless even when walking.
I agree that gps seems to be somewhat obsolete now; I stopped using my Garmin and now completely rely on Google Maps on my E71 despite the fact there's no navigation, just because I like only needing to use one device.
However, I don't think that gps devices will actually die out anytime soon, despite the introduction of Google Maps with Navigation just because I don't see the entire world suddenly shifting to purchasing data plans with their cell phone carriers. Data plans are still pretty expensive, and since most people don't seem to actually use internet on their phone, a dedicated gps still seems to be a viable option.
Of course, more and more people are getting smartphones/data plans now than ever before as far as I can tell just due to the introduction of the iPhone, but of course, still not everyone's going to follow that trend. I'm sure that the market will be smaller than it was before, but I just don't know by how much.
It's funny that all these articles focus on Garmin and not Magellan or Navigon. While Garmin does have significant market share for PND's, they also have great fall back products and significant market share for outdoor activities (fishing, hunting, hiking, etc...) and aviation. Tom Tom, Magellan, and Navigon have more to lose than Garmin does with Google's new app.