GPS devices navigate a hot market
If Black Friday was any indication, it’s going to be a heck of a season for Garmin International and other manufacturers of navigation gear.
During the week ending Nov. 25, sales of Global Positioning System devices were up 670 percent from a year ago, according to The NPD Group.
There are any number of reasons for the surge in popularity this year — more people are learning about the devices; they’re much easier to use; more companies are manufacturing them. But, most important, prices have dropped like a rock.
NPD, a research firm that tracks retail purchasing, said the average price of a GPS unit dropped by more than 50 percent in the last 12 months — from $684 on Black Friday in 2005 to $322 this year.
The Garmin StreetPilot c330, for instance, went on the market early last year with a $900 retail price tag. Wal-Mart currently is selling the c330 online for under $300. A newer product, the Garmin nuvi 350, retailed at $969 last November. The deck-of-cards-size device now is selling for under $450.
Those types of price cuts come as electronics giants such as Pioneer and Sony, auto electronics manufacturers Alpine and Delphi, and upstarts such as Brussels-based Mio entered a market dominated for the last couple of years by Garmin, TomTom and Magellan.
“This category has attracted a huge number of market entrants,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group.
Despite the increased competition, Olathe-based Garmin and No. 2 TomTom have defended their market share, Rubin said.
That doesn’t make it easier for consumers to choose, though. Amazon.com lists hundreds of GPS devices on its Web site; Wal-Mart lists more than 100.
To help, we asked experts for some of the most common questions they receive about navigation gear.
What does a portable navigation device do?
There are several varieties — automotive devices; devices made for hikers, hunters and geocachers; and devices for the marine or aviation markets.
All, generally, work the same way, using a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. government. A GPS device uses radio signals from a number of those satellites to compute the navigator’s location.
Currently, automotive devices are the most popular, so that’s what we’ll talk about here.
How much do I have to spend?
Prices are, literally, all over the place.
Basic no-frills units routinely sell online for about $230. A king-of-the-hill unit designed for a luxury RV or semi sells for closer to $1,200. A couple of retailers were blowing out $400 units for under $200 on Black Friday.
In general, though, a middle-of-the-road unit with some frills and preloaded maps of the U.S. should cost under $400.
Is there a subscription fee?
No. The GPS system was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense and is free to use.
Some newer, high-end devices from Garmin, Magellan and TomTom are offering add-on services — traffic information, for instance — that usually require a subscription.
continued....
messages.finance.yahoo.com |
