Garmin unveils 700 series... where the heck are we?
Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Garmin, the market share leader when it comes to personal navigation devices, has just taken the wraps off of their latest generation GPS devices: the nuvi 750, nuvi 760 and the nuvi 770.
The nuvi 700 series is packed full of cool features, like a "car locator" so you don't need to remember where you parked. It also includes a built-in MP3 players with Audible support, and a handy-dandy built-in FM transmitter (hey... remember those?) so you can either listen to your tunes or the turn-by-turn directions through your car stereo. The 760 and 770 also can receive real-time traffic reports, and let you steer clear of them.
But wait... where's the satellite radio support? There is none.
The real-time traffic data, is provided by an integrated FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic receiver. In the U.S., that data is provided by Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. Not XM or Sirius.
And the MP3/Audible support is all you're going to find in the audio category. Never mind that they have that built-in FM transmitter issue already taken care of.
I've already ranted about how Sirius and XM have missed the boat when it comes to the personal GPS market, and this is just another example.
This morning, Garmin CFO Kevin Rauckman was on CNBC talking about the company's outlook, and he mentioned that they're focusing more on the Retail channel more than the OEM channel. The reasoning was that Retail just moved much faster than OEM, and they're just seeing much more sales on the Retail side.
This is exactly the opposite of satellite radio's strategy. Being included in personal GPS devices could be an opportunity for satellite radio on the retail side. It provides access to an affluent market who's willing to spend $500+ on a device, and if XM/Sirius applied the OEM model to Retail (i.e., complimentary 3-month or 6-month subscription), they gain access to more ears as well.
It's time to get on the ball with this one.
Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Garmin, the market share leader when it comes to personal navigation devices, has just taken the wraps off of their latest generation GPS devices: the nuvi 750, nuvi 760 and the nuvi 770.
The nuvi 700 series is packed full of cool features, like a "car locator" so you don't need to remember where you parked. It also includes a built-in MP3 players with Audible support, and a handy-dandy built-in FM transmitter (hey... remember those?) so you can either listen to your tunes or the turn-by-turn directions through your car stereo. The 760 and 770 also can receive real-time traffic reports, and let you steer clear of them.
But wait... where's the satellite radio support? There is none.
The real-time traffic data, is provided by an integrated FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic receiver. In the U.S., that data is provided by Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. Not XM or Sirius.
And the MP3/Audible support is all you're going to find in the audio category. Never mind that they have that built-in FM transmitter issue already taken care of.
I've already ranted about how Sirius and XM have missed the boat when it comes to the personal GPS market, and this is just another example.
This morning, Garmin CFO Kevin Rauckman was on CNBC talking about the company's outlook, and he mentioned that they're focusing more on the Retail channel more than the OEM channel. The reasoning was that Retail just moved much faster than OEM, and they're just seeing much more sales on the Retail side.
This is exactly the opposite of satellite radio's strategy. Being included in personal GPS devices could be an opportunity for satellite radio on the retail side. It provides access to an affluent market who's willing to spend $500+ on a device, and if XM/Sirius applied the OEM model to Retail (i.e., complimentary 3-month or 6-month subscription), they gain access to more ears as well.
It's time to get on the ball with this one.
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