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The end of handheld GPS devices: Google will practically shut down Garmin and TomTom

This week Google released Google Maps Navigation for Android. It’s only a matter of time before it’s available for other phones.

Gizmodo was quick to look at both Garmin and TomTom’s stocks on the day of the announcement:

When I bought my Garmin nuvi 660, I saw this coming. My digital camera is already collecting dust, since my iPhone 3GS’s camera is good enough for most purposes. There are GPS applications for my iPhone, but I still pull out my Garmin just because it is already paid for (and the iPhone GPS applications are not).

What’s the future for Garmin and TomTom? Well, Garmin attempted to create an iPhone killer called the nuvifone. It was a good idea, but very poorly executed. TomTom handled things a little smarter, and were the first company to announce a turn-by-turn GPS application for the iPhone (though not the first to release one). TomTom even managed to realize that they could make a little money on hardware by selling accessories (including the suction cup).

Garmin’s nuvifone will undoubtedly bomb, and the company’s future is uncertain. TomTom will probably scrape by, but they need to somehow stay on top of Google.

I don’t think Garmin is doomed. They have the better ui over tomtom. If they sold the garminphine ui as an iPhone app, I’d buy it! I prefer the garmin ui over my oem Audi nav even! But I need to get my hands on a google phone to check it out.

Good point. But, either way, both of these companies are never going to be the same. There will probably always be a small market for portable GPS devices (e.g. rental cars, hiking/biking), but it will be very small.