Panasonic Exit European GPS Market
Date: Saturday, December 06 @ 12:25:30 UTC
Topic:
Panasonic are the latest manufacturer to announce their withdrawal from the European GPS market.
Citing low margins and the poor economic climate, Panasonic have announced they will cease GPS navigation device sales in Europe shortly allowing them to concentrate on their core products.
Given the lacklustre performance of their Strada device this news comes as little surprise. Many of the big names in electronics jumped on the GPS bandwagon with little experience of what was desired by the consumer and relied on their brand name to drive sales. Panasonic's devices had a nice quality feel to them but the Navigon software they chose was poorly implemented and the device struggled to keep up much of the time. Sony was another major brand who dipped their toes in the European market then made for the hills shortly after.
The drive for ever lower prices, cut-throat margins and too many products was already having an effect before the economic freefall. ViaMichelin pulled out of GPS and and MyGuide, a promising GPS manufacturers is now no more. One thing is for certain, Panasonic will not be the last.
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