Fare thee well, gentle friend. Those of us who cover GPS devices knew something was up: Navigon PR visited New York City on April 20th for three days of press demos, but unexpectedly flew back to Chicago that night, cancelling most appointments. The inside word was that something big was happening, but no one was saying what.
That question was answered this morning when Navigon announced it was leaving the PND (personal navigation device) market in North America. Speaking to GPS Business News, Navigon’s CEO Egon Minar said, “Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the PND business in North America for the time being. We are however not closing down our Chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in North America.”
It’s a surprising end for a company that made a big splash in a short time. Navigon entered the North American market in September 2007 and quickly muscled its way into the number four spot thanks to attractive designs and envelope-pushing features.
North American buyers have increasingly gone after bargain-priced bare-bones GPS devices rather than premium models, and profit margins have become increasingly thin. As cell phone navigation picks up this summer, with turn-by-turn directions coming to the iPhone and Garmin finally releasing the Nuvifone, PND makers will have to battle for a shrinking audience.
We know, it’s a little late here on the east coast to be “thinking clearly,” but we (and David) are pleading with you to pull it together in order to contribute. Afterwards, you and your freshened mind can shoot us a question to ask at engadget dawt com.
