Is Garmin losing its stronghold in satellite-navigation?

The onslaught of new smartphones equipped with satellite-navigation features is becoming a big threat to the dwindling behemoth in the personal navigation, Garmin.

While the beleaguered company blames the weak economy and that consumers seem to be more cost-conscious these days, you can’t dispel the blow created by the wireless industry. Today, personal navigation is no longer a special feature but a must-have for new mobile phones. Combine this with the power of mobile Internet and you will have a potent weapon to grab sizeable market share away from Garmin and other GPS players.

As the WSJ pointed out, this is reminiscent of the downfall of the Palm PDA with the entry of smartphones from companies like Nokia and BlackBerry.

Of course, Garmin is quite determined to put up a fight by release its very own iPhone-clone codenamed the Nuvifone. Unfortunately, we informed you a few days ago that its launch is delayed to first half of 2009 from the original timeline of of Q4 2008. Terrible news, indeed.

Again, this is a constant reminder for electronics companies to monitor the shifting market trends and continue its relentless efforts to improve its products.

Read [WSJ]