And then there were two.
As in, the third top selling GPS brand in the United States, Magellan GPS, has been sold to Mio GPS' parent company, MiTAC International Corporation.
According to Magellan's press release, the company has entered into a "definitive agreement to sell" its consumer products decision to MiTAC International Corp. in a transaction that should close Jan. 2009.
Although Magellan has long been struggling compared to Garmin and TomTom GPS in recent years, its still has considerable brand recognition in the U.S, making this deal a surprise.
CNET notes, "the company has been slow to come out with new products and hasn't been able to keep up with the big two in terms of features, innovation, or support. Meanwhile, Mio has struggled with brand recognition in the States." Digital Trends blames the slower economy as a whole, noting that Magellan's market share in GPS sales has dropped from 45 percent at its peak to just 15 percent in 2007.
Although MiTAC appears to be in a better position than some other GPS manufacturers, experts say it also has its work cut out for them. The company purchased Navman this time last year, and introduced both the Mio Moov series and Knight Rider GPS, but still sales aren't significantly profitable. GPS Business News actually predicts this recent merger will mean the end for Mio. They write, "this acquisition will be an important challenge for MiTAC. First, its past acquisition of Navman did not prove to be a real success, especially on markets were both Mio and Navman were present. ... MiTAC's management will have to better handle the transition than what it did in the past."
Regardless of which products go bye-bye and which stay for the long haul, you should expect some price shuffling. Check out our GPS reviews now to get up to speed on current pricing for Mio and Magellan GPS.
