i3 Discontinued??????

[marbar2k]

i have been reading in a few threads the shops are saying they no longer stock the i3. does this mean it is being discontinued?

If it were to be discontinued, would it still be developed eg new firmwares etc?

[Lunker]

I'm begining to think that too.

I'll be waiting now to see what happens. The last thing I want to do I buy a model at the end of it's shelf life only for it to be replaced with a cheaper better model.

[dmc]

perhaps it got too cheap, and people are buying it rather than their expensive models. Perhaps the i5 will replace it.

[marbar2k]

Whats the i5? is that the black and white model?

[Ash10]

It's unlikely to be discontinued just yet - it was only launched in September!

A more likely explanation is that retailers have decided to cease stocking them as there is insufficient mark-up on them.

The i5 is essentially the an i3 with more memory, principally for the US market - the US needs some pretty bigs maps! It's hard to see how it would be popular in the UK, when the i3 has more than enough memory for the job.

[Ash10]

[MaFt]

maplin.co.uk still has them

halfords.com still have them

argos.co.uk still have them

i rest my case

MaFt

[Lunker]

Is the reason these retailers have stock is cost?

All the cheaper retailers have stopped stocking the i3.

Could it be stock moves faster when you sell things cheaply so the more expensive retailers don’t shift their existing stock as quick.

Once this stock is gone will they be receiving any more?

[MaFt]

[MattW]

Could be that Garmin themselves aren't too happy with the retailers who heavily discount and are choosing not to supply them.

Look at the situation with i-pods - it's odd that in a 'free' market, it's absolutely impossible to find them discounted - keeps the brand value high.

Personally, I can't see Garmin discontinuing a product which is so new - they are still investing in promotion and advertising (a load of buses in my home town have just been plastered with full length i3 adverts down their sides for example).

Matt

[Lunker]

[Almahadeus]

Even if discontinued which is highly unlikely, Garmin would still develope map updates and provide support as they do with their older products. The only reason for discontinuation that I can think of is that Garmin doesn't know how to handle the map update fiasco and decided to get out of the problem they created for themselves.

[Skippy]

Judging by the number of people who appeared in the Garmin StreetPilot forum I would say that the i3 has been a roaring success. They must have sold 10s of thousands of these units.

There's no saying what Garmin might do but generally they market their GPS models for a couple of years before they discontinue them. Maybe the i3 is an exception, who knows. It is certainly unprecedented to see a stand alone satnav system at this price.
_________________
Gone fishing!

[PaulB2005]

From someone who works in Woolworths:

"Garmin have withdrawn the i3 from a number of retailers as the unsold stock has been bought by another retailer."


From Garmin via e-mail earlier this week:

"The STP i3 will continued to be supplied to our dealers and therefore sold to the general public. I do not know anything about these units being returned.

Thank you"

[Ash10]

Most (if not all) big-name retailers (ie: DSG, Argos, Woolworths) will have had their stock on a sale-or-return basis.

This makes a lot of sense for those who have no tradition or experience in the GPS market, but wanted to capitalise on the inevitable Christmas market.

Now that's over, the unsold units will have been returned to Garmin's distributors and should re-appear shortly through the more conventional sales channels - and probably at nearer the RRP...

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