Slower PND Price Cuts Are Seen

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 3/8/2010

NEW YORK — TomTom and Garmin forecast slower declines this year in the price of portable navigation devices (PNDs), the companies said in their financial reports.

In 2010, Garmin forecast PND price declines of 10 percent, which is less than in previous years.

For its part, TomTom said the decline in the average selling price (ASP) of its PNDs worldwide continues to slow, with its 2009 ASPs falling 21 percent to $125 after a 2008 decline of 31 percent and a 2007 decline of 37 percent.

TomTom also reported that its fourthquarter PND sales for the period ending December rose in North America by 8 percent to 8.6 million units.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, TomTom also said it sold 100,000 downloads of its navigation app for iPhones worldwide, and it grew its fourth-quarter North American PND unit share sequentially to 29 percent from 20 percent.

Garmin, which enjoys top U.S. and worldwide PND market share in units, forecast that its 2010 automotive and mobile revenues would be flat to slightly declining, while overall revenues would be flat to up 5 percent. Growth will be driven by increases in the company’s other segments as well as in Nuvifone and OEM opportunities, the company said.

In a written statement, chairman/ CEO Min Kao said he was disappointed in sales of the company’s Nuvifone PNDequipped cellphones to date but that its two next-generation phones shipping in the fi rst half “will be well-positioned in this competitive market.”