SatNav sales in decline, John Lewis not stocking them anymore. (1 Viewer)

Mack100

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Saw this in a newsletter on a Satnav site:
With sales of dedicated in-car sat-nav plummeting, high street retailer John Lewis has taken the decision to stop stocking them in-store.

Smartphone navigation has become the norm for most users and many more cars now have competent built-in navigation so it's perhaps not a surprise that sales of dedicated portable navigation devices such as those from TomTom and Garmin have been hard hit.

Once the must-have accessory, the rise of the smartphone with its vast array of free and paid for navigation applications, and the prevalence of factory fit systems means dedicated devices are no longer sought after.

So now they sit at the top of one list their manufacturers would not wish to be on, the list of items being "left behind" in John Lewis's 2017 annual retail report.

I didn't realize this was happening. I've used Waze when abroad in a hire car but still prefer using my TomTom device. Looks as though it's days are numbered.
 

Minxy

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We like TomTom's dedicated units but also like our tablet Sygic too - we're gonna give the TomTom app a try again and see if it has improved on the earlier versions which have limitations so aren't as good as the dedicated unit. I've said for a while that if TomTom did a dedicated large screen unit which you could 'manupulate' like a tablet it would be great, unfortunately they haven't so we use our tablet with Sygic and keep our TomTom unit as a back-up.

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Mar 2, 2011
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The choice of sat nav apps is now at such a level that people can experiment at very little , sometimes nil cost , to find a system they like. Rather than shelling out a lot of money for a dedicated unit and possibly not getting on with it .The apps even being pre loaded with particular POI sets .
 

Minxy

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The choice of sat nav apps is now at such a level that people can experiment at very little , sometimes nil cost , to find a system they like. Rather than shelling out a lot of money for a dedicated unit and possibly not getting on with it .The apps even being pre being loaded with particular POI sets .
Yes that's very true the difficulty with some of them though is that you can't put on your own POIs which, for us, is a major issue as they don't come pre-loaded with aires etc and can't be added.
 

movan

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OMG ..... that's me done for then. I get lost WITH a satnav ... no chance now. :(

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Yes that's very true the difficulty with some of them though is that you can't put on your own POIs which, for us, is a major issue as they don't come pre-loaded with aires etc and can't be added.

We were going to go the way of trying a built in (single DIN flip out) radio/gps type unit . However I have now been looking for a low cost decent resolution tablet with a gps antennae built in , with the express purpose being to use it as our gps , via trying out these available cheap apps .

What I"m suggesting is that between them all being loaded on the same unit at little to no cost , the particular POI sets required are probably going to be available somewhere among them . In that way ,switch to the app which contains the immediate required POI set .
 

magicsurfbus

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I don't want a pad computer and I hate my mobile phone. I've just ordered spare batteries for both our TomToms and I'm going to hold out until the bitter end. Trouble is, what will the lifetime of the product's support network be?

I am extremely wary of society's increasing reliance upon a single pocket gizmo with a tiny screen - at some point it is going to fail on us.
 
Oct 2, 2008
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The big downturn in the market is more likely due to sat nav being standard fitment in most vehicles now , so no need for a plug in .

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The big downturn in the market is more likely due to sat nav being standard fitment in most vehicles now , so no need for a plug in .
Some cars (Citroën C1) have a screen that mirrors your smartphone so you can have what Sat nav you want. That's the future.
 

Ivory55

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Some of us would not have a clue what to do with a smart phone, haha

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Mack100

Mack100

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It's having control over the customisable POI's that influences my choice of device or software. My somewhat ancient TomTom Start 25 gives me total flexibility and inserting downloaded POI files is really easy. This is not the case with more up to date models. @Richard and Ann comment about these companies moving away from hardware and concentrating on software is entirely valid.
The SatNav unit in my 6 year old Merc car is only just usable, nowhere near as good as my TomTom and I don't intend changing the car for a long time.
Incidentally I find the GPS acquisition and accuracy on my Android smartphone is infinitely better than my TomTom unit.
 

Bailey58

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Some bright spark will think of a guide that you can renew, perhaps on an annual basis, at little cost unlike map updates from the likes of Garmin and TomTom, to say nothing of my Becker in car satnav. Ah yes they have, it's available online and from many High Street outlets near you. (y)

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Jan 3, 2008
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Some bright spark will think of a guide that you can renew, perhaps on an annual basis, at little cost unlike map updates from the likes of Garmin and TomTom, to say nothing of my Becker in car satnav. Ah yes they have, it's available online and from many High Street outlets near you. (y)

Map updates for recent Garmin's are free as are traffic and red light camera warnings
 
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Love my old tom tom, not supported anymore, but you can download other users updates, does europe too.

I'd be totally lost without it especially the M42 /M5 route to the west country, so many times went the wrong way, now it's a breeze
 
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Some of us would not have a clue what to do with a smart phone, haha
Hi.
Don't worry about that, somebody will be along shortly to tell you....Exactly.... What to do with it/them.:eek::eek::eek:(y)
Tea Bag
 

The Nomad

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They won't exist as dedicated units in a few years. Now that the same software can be loaded onto any laptop, tablet or smartphone, and also an increasing number if cars have sat nav built in to their on board display, there's less and less demand for standalone units.
We have had two Tom Tom units over the past decade, but now that we also have maps.me sat nav software downloaded FREE on both our mobile phones and tablet computer, we won't be buying another Tom Tom when our present ones dies, they've been superseded. You can already get the Tom Tom system as a download to your smartphone etc rather than having to buy their frankly not very good box/screen to run it.
 

The Nomad

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Some of us would not have a clue what to do with a smart phone, haha


Some of us maybe. But we are dying out as a generation. Literally.

Anyone under the age of perhaps 40 is surgically attached to their smartphone/tablet, and they are the big and exponentially growing market for sales of any type of information technology product.

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Ivory55

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Firms expect you to own a smart phone now to use at work and are quite shocked if you don't.
 

Silver-Fox

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I am extremely wary of society's increasing reliance upon a single pocket gizmo with a tiny screen - at some point it is going to fail on us.


And the world is flat :D


Sorry couldn't resist, I know where you're coming from but if you have back up be it for you're software or even a map all will be good (y)

I hope :)
 
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They won't exist as dedicated units in a few years. Now that the same software can be loaded onto any laptop, tablet or smartphone, and also an increasing number if cars have sat nav built in to their on board display, there's less and less demand for standalone units.
We have had two Tom Tom units over the past decade, but now that we also have maps.me sat nav software downloaded FREE on both our mobile phones and tablet computer, we won't be buying another Tom Tom when our present ones dies, they've been superseded. You can already get the Tom Tom system as a download to your smartphone etc rather than having to buy their frankly not very good box/screen to run it.
Definitely one of the reasons is "not very good box/screen" the bloody processor is straight out of a ZX81. And that's a late model.

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EX51SSS

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and also an increasing number if cars have sat nav built in to their on board display
Strangely enough my 66 reg Smart doesn't (previous ones did) but Bluetooth connection and can use my Google maps or Waze on it through media.
The trouble is with built in units, it's getting the updates without major surgery to get the unit to the computer.
Some on board ones are out of date pretty quickly.
I had a 16 reg Seat Mii and had a removable dedicated unit that could be updated but only used it once in 12 months
 

The Nomad

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Strangely enough my 66 reg Smart doesn't (previous ones did) but Bluetooth connection and can use my Google maps or Waze on it through media.
The trouble is with built in units, it's getting the updates without major surgery to get the unit to the computer.
Some on board ones are out of date pretty quickly.
I had a 16 reg Seat Mii and had a removable dedicated unit that could be updated but only used it once in 12 months

Totally agree.
I see built in sat nav as a big disadvantage in a car: you are locked into that suppliers software, expensive updates, and you can't take it out and use it on your motorbike, motorhome, bicycle, whilst walking around unfamiliar towns etc etc. I would always avoid them in favour of my own smart phone or tablet version.

But my point was that they are increasingly being fitted as standard to cars and that is helping to hasten the demise of the TomTom or Garmin handheld units.
 
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I still prefer devices that don't try to be a Jack-of-all-Trades. Luddite, me. Garmin all the way. Phones are for talking to people. I have a smartphone that got all confused when a call came in while I was using it as a satnav. :mad:

I am also wary of the implications of vehicle "connectivity" through built in "infotainment" screens. Big Brother ... :cautious:

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Oct 1, 2013
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I still prefer devices that don't try to be a Jack-of-all-Trades. Luddite, me. Garmin all the way. Phones are for talking to people. I have a smartphone that got all confused when a call came in while I was using it as a satnav. :mad:

. :cautious:
That happened to me. Merrily plodding along, when the phone rang. Was mayhem and spilled my beer everywhere :(
 
Jan 28, 2008
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We like TomTom's dedicated units but also like our tablet Sygic too - we're gonna give the TomTom app a try again and see if it has improved on the earlier versions which have limitations so aren't as good as the dedicated unit. I've said for a while that if TomTom did a dedicated large screen unit which you could 'manupulate' like a tablet it would be great, unfortunately they haven't so we use our tablet with Sygic and keep our TomTom unit as a back-up.
we have tom tom go on the head unit in the van works as well as a stand alone tom tom we had sygic on free trial and it got us lost twice in france and again in germany so we went to tom tom @£15 a year subscription which compares well to buying a stand alone with a lifespan of 5 years
 
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My Tom Tom Live packed up this morning, i say packed up but just a dodgy connection between unit and lead (tried a new lead but no good) after 4 good years:cry: so nipped into Halfords and bought the Tom Tom Go 5200(y) Nice unit and hope it last just as long:)

Rob

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