observation: Garmin (et al) slipping

[ubern000b]

Ok, the financial crunch is underway and many corps. are looking to slash costs first and deal with irate customers second. Has anyone reviewed Garmin's latest filings? I'm guessing they're publicly traded.

 

Do they look solid or are they a nice collection of BS?

 

I ask because, if Garmin is borrowed to the max and not doing so well then I expect their customer service to nosedive and become as useful as Magellan customer service.

 

I'm already seeing signs of stress at Garmin what with big discounts on dogs (no offense meant) like Colorados and some steep slashing on car units. I also attribute the painful firmware releases (not really tested properly) to cuts in their programming arm. (get it out the door. fix it later syndrome)

 

I worked in industry long enough to see when the bottom begins to fall out. I think I see that starting with Garmin.

 

What say you?

[+splashy]

See this oct 26, by that time I got angry people (answers) I was not suppost to write it and it was not honest to Garmin, maybe the mass wakes up by now, after a bad upgrade for Colorado AND Oregon.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN ANYWAY???

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=206710

[+TotemLake]

See this oct 26, by that time I got angry people (answers) I was not suppost to write it and it was not honest to Garmin, maybe the mass wakes up by now, after a bad upgrade for Colorado AND Oregon.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN ANYWAY???

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=206710

What? You haven't seen other brands slip in their quality and customer service? It's called being accountable to the bottom line share holders and has been the hallmark of business for decades.

 

I'm thankful for the extra effort Delorme is putting out in the face of our faltering economy. This attitude is going to mean the difference between being in business and hoping to stay in business.

[ubern000b]

Ok, I'm not looking to bash Garmin. Let's get that out of the way.

 

I'm asking if anyone has studied their 10q filings and do they look good or bad?

 

Will Garmim weather the economic storm and

 

A: spend more to make more (better products, not just flashier buggier ones) , or.

 

B: slash to improve the bottom line (ala Magellan) at customer expense?

 

What are they doing now in your opinion?

Edited December 11, 2008 by ubern000b

[+splashy]

I like my Oregon as I did my (good working) Colorado as I did my xl 12 and 65

The problem is cheap and simple

1 listen to the customer and read the Emails

2 Do some decent programming and let a update be a update and not something we had years

ago allready, but you forgot in your new flagship gps'es

Edited December 11, 2008 by splashy

[yogazoo]

Garmin is BOOMING! No, the bottom isn't falling out nor is the sky falling down. Their earnings are up and things are just fine with Garmin. The recent stumbling with their handheld line is a total mystery but it's not for lack of funds. See the below article for more information.

 

Garmin Shows Booming Growth

 

They may be tightening their belt in anticipation of a major longterm economic slowdown but they seem to be doing just peachy at the moment.

[ubern000b]

Yogazoo,

 

excellent read. I see very high inventory numbers so I'm expecting some major price reductions on slow movers early in 2009. I'd be happy to score an Oregon for a decent price next year. , heck I'm hoping to score a Quest cheaply, been watching them bobble around the $100US mark.

 

I'd rather see Garmin healthy and hope their recent handheld problems are a glitch.

 

We don't need another Magellan in terms of customer service...

[kafkar]

I like my Oregon as I did my (good working) Colorado as I did my xl 12 and 65

The problem is cheap and simple

1 listen to the customer and read the Emails

2 Do some decent programming and let a update be a update and not something we had years

ago allready, but you forgot in your new flagship gps'es

 

I don't think they have troubles with costumer communication. My experience is very good. They are sending responses in few hours and these responses are informative for me. I did not received in last 4 month any "auto response" as before from central helpdesk.

 

Garmin did very big step forward (especially their Europe/UK Service Dept). When you contact global helpdesk.. It is awful and I think it is another "victim" of centralization/cost saving/outsourcing.. Idea of managers behind is that call centre full of "monkeys" located somewhere in India/China/etc. will cost less (it is true) and would respond to 80% of customer mails.. If you would like to have real response, you have to break through 1st level of "monkeys" (I'd like to apologise to these hard working people to name them as "monkeys", but their targets/earning/key figures are only number of responses with "some" quality..), you will get someone who is able to pass your request to design/development department and these people are realy thinking about customer requests. (but managers are doing decisions !!)

 

What I don't understand in all cases are some design/technical decisions and there could source of troubles and customer complaints. Not all customers, but there is always group of people that would like some modification to be implemented - especially when this was very good and usefull feature of older Garmin devices.. (my case is absence of IOP A300 protocol for tracklog transfer or applying of GPX file signing to prevent their user modifications).

 

I'd suggest to Garmin to make more open their device for public community.. 80-90% would be fine with Garmin firmware. When there would be way to build modifications based on OpenSource firmware it will build up new community of developers.. For that it would be fine to publish SDK/tools to build firmware modification for particular group of users (pilots, geocaching, fishing, XC, marine,...) .. That would realy increase value of Garmin devices (very good).. Of course these modifications will be uses on user own risk and for use cases that never will be covered by Garmin SW implementation.

 

So the main problem I can see is that Garmin too "Close" .. When Garmin will became more "Open" - especially in SW area, it would bring new oportunities and ideas/requierements implementation without big costs. Side effect is building of community of people..

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

Garmin has tons of cash and, AFAIK, no debt. Price slashing is a result of competition and commoditization. I think Garmin is in the strongest financial position of any of the publicly traded GPS manufacturers. This is despite a precipitous slide in stock price, which seems to be due to concerns about the above and competition from cell phones.