Finding your way in a fast-changing technology sector with different players jumping in and out is hard enough. It's even worse when the economy turns against you. Just ask GPS-maker Garmin Ltd., which has seen demand for its portable navigation devices tank.
The company on Thursday
saw its stock plummet on disappointing earnings and an announced delay of its smart phone, which will compete with the Apple iPhone. Garmin's problems, though, have been piling up for some time, and the twists and turns it has experienced in the past several months are enough to induce a mild case of car sickness.
Garmin's products are underpinned by digital map making products from Navteq Corp. But when Nokia Oyj announced in October 2007 that it was buying Navteq for $8.1 billion, there was concern on Wall Street about whether Garmin's partnership would survive the deal. That sent Garmin shopping and the company ended up in a bidding war in November with European rival TomTom for digital map maker Tele Atlas NV. During the auction, Garmin managed to negotiate a new long-term license with Navteq and dropped out of the bidding for Tele Atlas.
That solved one problem. Now, if it can only figure out how to compete with that $199 iPhone. Some analysts predicted Garmin had hoped to
price its Nuvifone around $300. -
Baz Hiralal Garmin Slumps Most in 8 Years After Cutting Forecast Garmin slashes 2008 sales forecast by $600 millionGarmin's 2Q resultsGarmin completes acquisition of its Austrian distributor
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