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• Two opinions on Garmin shares

  Posted Jul 31 2008, 10:15 AM by Kim Peterson
  Filed under: Garmin, Kim Peterson
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  Navigation device maker Garmin hit a 52-week low this week after the company said it will delay its new cell phone, called Nuvifone, until next year. Garmin had been trying to get Nuvifone out before the holidays. The company also missed expectations on quarterly sales and profit and lowered guidance for the year.

  As I've said before, Garmin's days as a high-flying stock are over. This company is being hammered by falling margins, economic turmoil, nimble rivals and by GPS-enabled cell phones taking away from market share. Garmin must retrench and figure out a new strategy; the question is what kind of company will it become?    Read More...

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• Apple's big iPhone news

  Posted Jun 09 2008, 10:51 AM by Kim Peterson
  Filed under: Apple, Garmin, wireless, Kim Peterson
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  The iPhone is nearly a year old, and with only 6 million sold Apple isn't close to its goal of selling 10 million this year. That's about to change, because the iPhone is getting an upgrade.

  And I'm not talking about just the phone itself. Apple's building a universe of applications, games and other features that could be just as important. The company is again setting a new standard for cell phones. 

  Another selling point: Apple is dropping the iPhone's price to $200 for an 8GB model and $300 for a 16GB version. But the biggest news of the day is a new iPhone that runs on 3G technology, which makes Web browsing much faster. The phones also have built-in GPS, which is sending Garmin shares down 5% so far. The new iPhone is due out July 11.   Read More...

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• Bummer year for Garmin

  Posted Apr 01 2008, 12:18 PM by Kim Peterson
  Filed under: Garmin, Navteq, Kim Peterson, Broadcom
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  This was supposed to be a big week for Garmin. The satellite navigation leader tried to make a splash at the CTIA wireless trade show in Las Vegas yesterday by announcing big deals with MapQuest and Google. Yet investors greeted the news with a collective frown: Shares are down 10% from last week and 40% from the beginning of the year.

  It didn't help that on Friday a Stanford Group analyst began covering Garmin with a "sell" rating. The analyst said something that's been weighing on investors' minds for some time: Handsets and mobile phones with GPS capabilities are a growing threat. Yes, Garmin is developing its own GPS phone, the Nuvifone, but sales may underwhelm, the analyst said. Garmin shares fell nearly 5% after the report came out.

  Garmin isn't alone here. The overall navigation device market is suffering. Shares of SiRF Technology, which makes chips for navigation devices, are starting to recover after the company cut its Q1 sales forecast last week and announced layoffs. There are fears that SiRF is losing market share to Broadcom, which isn't so specialized in the GPS market. SiRF shares are down 79% from the start of the year.   Read More...

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