Potential New Garmin Products

[jcc123]

http://www.gpsgazette.com/new-garmin-products/garmin/

 

Is it just me does anyone else think that Garmin is over-extending itself in the GPS space? They're introducing 60 new products this year. They already have too many product lines. They should take a good lesson from TomTom. TomTom has very few products but they've been taking market share away from Garmin because they actually THINK about the design of their products before releasing it.

 

The feeling I get from Gramin is that they really don't know what their customers want and therefore releases everything and the kitchen sink to see what takes off. It's really poor leadership...

[+Sputnik 57]

Some context might be helpful. Remember that handheld GPS units used for geocaching are not the only thing Garmin does.

 

We remain optimistic about the future success of our business and our ability to serve customers and distributors around the world. General perspective on the business expectations for 2006, including our new segments are:

 

• We anticipate overall revenue to exceed $1.3 billion in 2006, and earnings per share to exceed $3.19. We assume our 2006 effective tax rate will be approximately 16% and have included an earnings per share impact of $0.07 in our estimate due to the effects of implementing FAS123®.

 

• We anticipate aviation revenues to grow at least 20 percent in 2006. Growth is expected to occur within both G1000 OEM and aviation aftermarket shipments.

 

• We anticipate marine revenues to grow at least 10 percent in 2006. Growth will come from exciting dual-beam and digital fishfinder products and next generation offshore and inland marine cartography that will be introduced across our new marine chartplotter lines.

 

• We anticipate outdoor/fitness segment revenues to grow at least 15 percent in 2006 led by Fitness products like the new Forerunner with watch-like styling, and the Edge designed specifically for the cycling enthusiasts. In addition, new outdoor products with high sensitivity GPS receivers and pre-programmed mapping data cards will drive additional growth in this segment during 2006.

 

• We anticipate automotive/mobile revenues to grow above 60 percent in 2006, with declining operating margins due to product mix and a continued transition toward mass market levels.

 

• We look forward to introducing between 50 and 60 new products in 2006; ten new products introduced so far in 2006, many during January's very successful Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

 

• Expansion of Taiwan manufacturing to meet growing demand for our products with the purchase of a new manufacturing facility in January 2006, significantly expanding our future manufacturing capacity.

 

• Increased focus on the development of European opportunities; growth will be supported with a planned expansion of our European headquarters and distribution center and continued emphasis on advertising to enhance awareness of the Garmin brand.

Edited March 6, 2006 by Sputnik 57

[planewood]

http://www.gpsgazette.com/new-garmin-products/garmin/

 

Is it just me does anyone else think that Garmin is over-extending itself in the GPS space? They're introducing 60 new products this year. They already have too many product lines. They should take a good lesson from TomTom. TomTom has very few products but they've been taking market share away from Garmin because they actually THINK about the design of their products before releasing it.

 

The feeling I get from Gramin is that they really don't know what their customers want and therefore releases everything and the kitchen sink to see what takes off. It's really poor leadership...

 

Take a look at the growth of their stock price over the last 3 years! I would say they must be doing something right.

[CenTexDodger]

http://www.gpsgazette.com/new-garmin-products/garmin/

 

Is it just me does anyone else think that Garmin is over-extending itself in the GPS space? They're introducing 60 new products this year. They already have too many product lines. They should take a good lesson from TomTom. TomTom has very few products but they've been taking market share away from Garmin because they actually THINK about the design of their products before releasing it.

 

The feeling I get from Gramin is that they really don't know what their customers want and therefore releases everything and the kitchen sink to see what takes off. It's really poor leadership...

 

When they say "60 new products, I don't think it is really 60 distinct items, but products in lines. There are now 6 products in the 60 series--60, map60, map60c, map60cs, map60cx, map60csx. When you figure that they are in 4 or 5 distinct markets--aviation, outdoor, automotive, marine, as well as producing the cartography for those, for a company that is growing and getting aggressive, 60 new products does not seem unreasonable.

[jcc123]

I know that they serve many market but lets just focus on, for the sake of argument, the consumer lines. Just looking at the eTrex series or 60 series for example. Do they need so many different or both versions? Can't they just combine the two lines? They all seem to go after the same exact consumer base and yet they can't seem to decide on just a few models like TomTom. What this does is it spreads their resources out too thin. Instead on working on just a few models and making sure they're the best in their category, the engineers at Garmin has to worry about multiple models in the multiple lines. They're a jack of all models, master of none.

 

One of the biggest decisions the management of a company has is choice, there doesn't seem to be any at Garmin. They just throw it out and hopes that it sticks.

 

Again. just look at TomTom and you see that they're about to clean Garmin's clocks in the automotive GPS segment.

 

BTW, I owned the stock until last year. Their stock has been quite volatile due to their "hit & miss" product offerings.

Edited March 6, 2006 by jcc123

[HokieBird]

Reminds me of the auto industry. There used to be zillions of models of Buicks and now they've streamlined (to compete with Toyota/Honda) to just a few simple product lines.

[+GOT GPS?]

With all the models out, it is really strange, that there is nothing to compete with the large eXplorist XL GPS with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and display size of 3.5 inches.

 

The little screens on the GPS units, just does not cut it for good mapping, that a large screen can give you.

[+allory]

With all the models out, it is really strange, that there is nothing to compete with the large eXplorist XL GPS with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and display size of 3.5 inches.

 

The little screens on the GPS units, just does not cut it for good mapping, that a large screen can give you.

Some of that would depend on your point of view. The iQue 3600 has been out longer than the XL, has a slightly larger screen with twice as many pixels, but is smaller and lighter overall.

It does cost more, but comes with maps for either US/CAN or Europe, does auto routing and much more. Seems like much nicer product than the XL (I do have one of each).

[GeoidPS]

Yes, it is obvious that Garmin wants to push out new products without refining the issues of the existing products. They can't offer updated software without advertising Beta after Beta. They just don't have the willingness to expend the necessary resources for quality control. For example, the new x series.....how stupid is it to offer SD cards that don't hold waypoints, tracks, or routes.

The problem is that each time Garmin comes out with a new bell or whistel, there are plenty of GPSr junkies that will go out and buy them and then ten minutes later tell everybody how wonderfull they are.

As per above, there are Garmin marketing agents that are constantly dredging this site and others.

[+Jeeters]

With all the models out, it is really strange, that there is nothing to compete with the large eXplorist XL GPS with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and display size of 3.5 inches.

 

The little screens on the GPS units, just does not cut it for good mapping, that a large screen can give you.

Yup, I'd like to replace my aging Sportrak but am really not impressed with the latest offerings. Feature-wise, much of the new stuff is great (hence, my desire to upgrade), but hardware wise, things leave lots to be desired. It's obvious Magellan ditched the Sportrak line for the Explorist line in order to compete with Garmin's little eTrex's. They tout the fancy color screens but then ya go look at one like the Explorist 500 and the screen looks almost like a postage stamp. Completely useless in the car if you have no copilot to read it for you.

 

I really like the idea of the large screen of the XL (excellent for when in the car) but that unit is just overall too big and heavy for me. I could get used to the size, but the weight is a show stopper for me. 12.5 ounces? Know way I want to lug around a full can of soda off my belt when I'm out hiking. I suppose the weight is mostly due to the batteries needed to feed the hungry backlight of that large screen.

 

If Garmin came out with a nice featured unit with the size/weight of around the existing 60c series, but a screen just a bit larger (perhaps 3" - smack between its current size, and the XL), I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

And if Magellan had a *modern* featured offering with a form factor and larger screen size comparable to older offerings like Meridian or Sportrak, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, too. Unfortunately, Magellan has two choices now, neither appealing to me: several mini-sizes units and one *over* sized unit.

[jcc123]

That's exactly my point. Garmin doesn't seem to know what their consumers want or worse, they don't care what they want. Instead, they release one after another of almost perfect GPSs.

 

I mean come on folks, we all know what features would make the PERFECT GPS and it's not that hard to figure out. Part of the problem here is the lack of leadership from the top. Imagine if Steve Jobs was in charge of Garmin! What wonderful GPSs he would make!

[+Reece's_Pieces]

With all the models out, it is really strange, that there is nothing to compete with the large eXplorist XL GPS with a resolution of 240x320 pixels, and display size of 3.5 inches.

 

The little screens on the GPS units, just does not cut it for good mapping, that a large screen can give you.

Yup, I'd like to replace my aging Sportrak but am really not impressed with the latest offerings. Feature-wise, much of the new stuff is great (hence, my desire to upgrade), but hardware wise, things leave lots to be desired. It's obvious Magellan ditched the Sportrak line for the Explorist line in order to compete with Garmin's little eTrex's. They tout the fancy color screens but then ya go look at one like the Explorist 500 and the screen looks almost like a postage stamp. Completely useless in the car if you have no copilot to read it for you.

 

I really like the idea of the large screen of the XL (excellent for when in the car) but that unit is just overall too big and heavy for me. I could get used to the size, but the weight is a show stopper for me. 12.5 ounces? Know way I want to lug around a full can of soda off my belt when I'm out hiking. I suppose the weight is mostly due to the batteries needed to feed the hungry backlight of that large screen.

 

If Garmin came out with a nice featured unit with the size/weight of around the existing 60c series, but a screen just a bit larger (perhaps 3" - smack between its current size, and the XL), I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

And if Magellan had a *modern* featured offering with a form factor and larger screen size comparable to older offerings like Meridian or Sportrak, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, too. Unfortunately, Magellan has two choices now, neither appealing to me: several mini-sizes units and one *over* sized unit.

 

Sounds like you are looking for the Lowrance Expedition C. Buddy of mine picked one up a few weeks ago, OMFG is it ever nice. If you don't need auto-routing it is the unit to buy, the screen in particular is amazing.