Garmin nuvifone 'May' Threaten Apple iPhone (GRMN, AAPL)

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) has unveiled a new device today and this looks like many consumers will interpret it as a shot right across the bow of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).  These are actually different markets on the surface, but analysts andconsumers may draw more lines into converging markets after the firstor second generation of the phones.  You could make an anology that Apple was converging mobile computing and communications and iTunes into the iPhone, and Garmin is converging mobile computing and communications with GPS & PND. 

Garmin is launching the nuvifone(TM) to combine a phone with a personal navigation device.  This has many of the same features as the Apple iPhone with some differences and some relative pros and cons.  The con is fairly easy to see and that is that it doesn’t look quite as cool on the surface, and this is not really looking like the next iTunes replacement hub.  But the pros may greatly outweigh this.  For starters, this is going to have much the same look as the personal navigation devices from Garmin today, plus it will have a mobile web browser in an all touchscreen platform on a 3.5-inch screen (same size as iPhone). 

You can see the entire media pictures here outside of this one picture here with the web browser open to get a snapshot of what you are really looking at, and when you click on the images on the Garmin nuvifone site you will see their images are much more clear.

When the nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.  This also comes preloaded with maps of North America, or Europe (or both), and you can still have that talking voice prompted direction guide.

This will also harness Google local search capability with 3.5G and will combine a personal messaging function for email, text, and instant messaging. 

For those who can’t find their own (you know what), it even has a "Where am I?" feature to display the exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations.  And if the enemy is over-running your defense lines you can call in the broken arrow air strike right on top of your position.

Besides navigation, the nuvifone includes access to Garmin Online(TM) for constant updated information in real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

The built-in camera allows individuals to take a picture that willautomatically be tagged with the exact latitude and longitude referenceof where the image was taken.  You can even save the image location soyou can find that cool place again if you can’t remember wherelocations are.

Here is the catch.  The nuvifone is not going to be availableuntil Q3 2008.  That give Apple anywhere from 7 months to 9 months tolaunch another iPhone generation that includes many of these samefeatures.  By now we all know that phone features are more advancedthan our computers were in the 1990’s with our 14k, 28k and 56kmodems.  So the differences are going to boil down to how available thephone is at multiple carriers, the price points, and the featurescompared to price points.

Garmin noted that specific details will be released regarding pricingand sales partners "in the future."  I asked an industry contact what afair pricing might be $300 to $350 was the first guess.  The iPhone isnow $399 with a two-year AT&T activation contract, so a lot willdepend on prices and availability at carriers.  We’re still some timeoff before we even have a cell phone war between these two, let alone knowing who thewinner will be.

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Garmin stock is up 2.5% today at $72.12, and its 52-week trading range is $49.31 to $125.68.

Jon C. Ogg
January 31, 2008