Of the many various GPS manufactures, Garmin has become the most popular. Not only do they make a high-quality product, but they offer a wide variety of GPS units for average consumers, mariners and pilots. However, quality can come at a price, as some Garmin GPS units can range in price up to thousands of dollars. This is why it is important to try to find a source for discount Garmin GPS products if at all possible.

The first way one can try to find as source of discount Garmin GPS products is from the Garmin website itself, Garmin.com. The company website does not sell discount Garmin GPS directly; rather they provide a list of stores that do sell their equipment. › Continue reading…

Garmin are one of the best know producers of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Satellite Navigation Systems (Sat Navs) in the world. Their products cover a wide range of uses; from handheld GPS units for orienteering and running such as the Garmin eTrex H and Forerunner 205 to automotive units like the Garmin nuvi range (for cars) and Garmin Zumo motorcycle sat navs. They also produce marine units like the Garmin GPS 72 hand held units to the Garmin GP SMAP 550S combined GPS / Plotter/ Fishfinder.

Sports and Fitness Units

The Garmin Forerunner 205 is the market entry fitness model of a range of wrist worn GPS and fitness monitors which extends to the Forerunner 405. All the units monitor, track and store data which can later be down loaded and analysed on the Garmin Fitness Center software, which will display in graphical format, data such as distance, time and, in some cases, heart rate.

Garmin nuvi Range

Specifically designed for use in covered vehicles (cars, vans and the like), the Garmin nuvi range is renowned for its ease of use and clarity of display. Features include touch sensitive screens, spoken directions, Bluetooth connectivity and Traffic reports (model dependant). Garmin have also announced the new nuvi 1200 and nuvi 1300 families, which are designed for both car and pedestrian use. Both will include a new system called CityXplorer which will help you to find your way around specific cities by public transport, although the cities to be covered by this system have yet to be announced.

Garmin Zumo

The requirements for a motorbike sat nav are quite different from those of other vehicles. Weather proofing is an obvious requirement, but so is a secure mount, and the ability to use Bluetooth to provide directions and telephone hands-free facilities to helmet mounted earphones and microphones are another. Just importantly, the screen must be able to easily handle touch screen instructions for riders wearing thick gloves. Obviously the Zumo range handle these requirements with ease.

Garmin Marine Range

Garmin’s range of marine instruments are even more extensive. Hand held GPS and navigation systems like the Garmin GP SMAP range are designed for small boat use, while the larger Garmin fishfinders require transducers to be placed over the side or permanently installed. And then you get into the really fancy kit; the combined GPS, Fishfinder Plotter, which will give you all the advantages of a marine sat nav system, showing you a chart of your location, the depth under your keel and even if there are fish there. The Garmin GP SMAP 555 is just such a unit, waterproof, naturally, as well as having integral tide tables and bright, sharp screen, to make it easier to see in sunlight.

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When you’re in need of directions, there’s no better device than a GPS.

But when it comes to mapping out winners and losers in the GPS devices marketplace, we turn to the guidance of our 15,000-member ChangeWave research network. And what they’ve told us is that Garmin (GRMN) – the top GPS manufacturer in the world – has achieved near total domination of the U.S. marketplace.

During February we conducted two ChangeWave surveys on global positioning systems – one on consumer GPS trends (n = 3,773) and the other on corporate purchasing trends (n = 2,013). Here’s what we found:

Consumer GPS Trends

Our February 18-25 survey of consumers who own a GPS navigation device, shows Garmin with a 56% market share – an increase of 4 percentage points since the previous survey in January 2008. Garmin’s percentage towers over its closest rival Magellan, which captured only 12%.

Looking at the next 90 days, Garmin (54%; up 5-pts) remains first on the map in terms of planned consumer purchases of GPS navigation devices. TomTom is second with 8% (down 1-pt), and Magellan has fallen to third place with just 4% (down 2-pts).

Corporate GPS Trends

In our February 11-15 corporate buying survey, Garmin is also the dominant leader with a hefty 58% share of the corporate GPS market. That’s a full 11-pts higher than the previous corporate buying survey in November 2007.

Magellan also gained some corporate ground since the previous survey (12%; up 4-pts), even as TomTom’s numbers have fallen to 9%, down 3-pts since November.

Going forward it’s more of the same, as Garmin is dominating planned corporate GPS purchases for the 2nd Quarter with a 56% market share That’s a huge 10-pt jump since November.

Magellan takes second with 10% (up 2-pts), while TomTom limps in at 5% (down 7-pts).

Best Quarter in History? Now Wait a Minute.

Garmin’s February 20th quarterly earnings call has confirmed our ChangeWave survey findings, with the company stating flat out that it was the “best quarter in our history.”

Garmin reported earnings per share of $1.39, on sales of more than $1.2 billion – a 99% increase from a year earlier, with profits up an impressive 70%. Analysts had projected earnings of just $1.12 per share. To top it off, the company stated that its outlook for the rest of 2008 remained strong.

So with all that good news, you might wonder why Garmin’s share price took a big 20% hit in the weeks immediately following their quarterly earnings announcement. Or why Garmin’s stock price is now down nearly 60% from its 52-week high.

According to Wall Street analysts, the combination of significantly lower profit margins for Garmin (down more than 15%) and a retrenchment in U.S. consumer spending has undermined Garmin’s stock price. In addition, Garmin’s average unit selling price dropped precipitously last quarter, and their CFO recently predicted it will drop another 20% in 2008.

Another factor is the continued slowdown in U.S. consumer spending. Our February survey found an astonishing two-in-five U.S. respondents (39%) saying they’ll spend less over the next 90 days than they did a year ago – 5-pts worse than our January 2008 survey.

The decline in spending is occurring across all income levels. But most ominously – not only for Garmin but for the entire GPS devices industry – the survey showed consumer electronics spending in the midst of a major slowdown.

To put this in perspective, it’s the weakest outlook for electronics spending ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey.

Given such a slowdown, it’s understandable why Garmin and so many other high flying electronics stocks have had an extremely rough go of it lately. But despite shrinking profit margins and an extremely tough consumer spending environment, our latest ChangeWave surveys show Garmin is gobbling up share in the high growth GPS market.

The verdict is out on whether Garmin can return to its previously lofty heights – but it’s a company investors should be watching closely.