six GPS navigation systems no longer with us
Apr 11, 2009 gps navigation
GPS navigation system market is very dynamic and fast moving. New features come out monthly, prices keep going down. Small brand names can’t just compete or the big ones (HP, Sony) just take a quick stab at the market and realize people just won’t give up their Garmin’s :)
Here are a few names that are either out of the GPS navigation market or about to be gone.
- Magellan
- HP
- Dash
- Harman/Kardon
- Sony
- Panasonic
- Navigon
Magellan was one of the big shots here in the U.S. but recently was bought by Mitac Mio. Even though Mio said they’d keep the brand going we think it is a matter of time until the Magellan name completely disappears.
HP had a decent looking device called iPAQ 310 for a while but it turns out they’ll be discontinuing their stand alone GPS navigation systems and a few others such as iPAQ 312, 314, 316, and 318.
These were the guys to first come out with a decent two way connected system. We really loved it. But they didn’t last long. When they quit they promised they’d keep their awesome user collected traffic information platform alive.
Harman did come out with a few models that really looked promising such as the GPS-810. But due to continued price cutting they’re out as well.
Sony never really got traction in the PND market. They officially quit the European market. Even though SonyStyle for U.S. still offers the NVU series the fact that they haven’t offered anything new makes us wonder…
Panasonic is also out but only for standalone GPS navigation systems like the Strada CN-GP50N, and CN-GP50U. They’re keeping their in-dash systems.
UPDATE (May 6th):
We’re sorry to now add Navigon to this list. They really had some decent devices but the aggressive pricing was too aggressive for them. They’ll continue business in Europe.
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April 11th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Harman didn’t stop with PND’s! All know-how and technology was moved to German BECKER!
April 13th, 2009 at 5:23 am
I heard that Mio was leaving the US market. Maybe their plan is to continue to sell products under the Magellan brand name. Sorry, I don’t have a source, this is just the buzz I recall hearing…purely speculation. Doesn’t matter much to me though, I’m a Garmin fan.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
goods
May 7th, 2009 at 1:30 am
[...] was the first to offer life time traffic updates in the U.S. Now they’re the 7th on our list of GPS navigation companies that couldn’t make [...]
May 9th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I too am a Garmin user, but there are some new devices on the market as well. My brother got a new device from Space Machine (I believe it is thier Pocketmap line) and it is really nice. I use the Pocketmap software for my mobile phone and they have been around for a while. Looks like they are entering the portable navigation device game. So it’s not all discouraging news.
June 7th, 2009 at 2:28 am
[...] was the first to offer life time traffic updates in the U.S. Now they’re the 7th on our list of GPS navigation companies that couldn’t make [...]