What's Wrong With Magellan?

After a long period of quiet after their purchase by MiTAC, Magellan has emerged with some interesting GPS receiver models. Is it enough to stave off the inevitable?

Magellan Maestro 4700

from $162.99

Magellan 1340

from $105.82

Magellan 1440

from $109.99

Magellan 1470

from $119.93

Though everyone talks about the "big three" GPS makers, in reality, it's the "big one," Garmin, and the other two, TomTom and Magellan. Even between "the other two," Magellan has been the perpetual also-ran, lagging behind the competition in name recognition and sales for as long as they've been around. Magellan has been on the ropes for a while, and currently they seem to be in a vague test phase following their purchase by Taiwanese electronics manufacturer MiTAC. If Magellan can't pull something out of its hat in the next year or so, I wouldn't be surprised to see the brand scrapped and replaced by Mio, MiTAC's non-U.S. GPS brand.

Ultimately, however, GPS receivers as a whole may be doomed. Smartphones are taking over turn-by-turn navigation, making standalone GPS devices as quaint and useless as they made PDAs many years ago. Garmin and TomTom are experimenting with plans to survive this shift in the marketplace. The former is developing their own GPS-enabled smartphone, while the latter is playing around with creating navigation software for various smartphone platforms. Magellan? There's no indication that they're tackling this thorny problem just yet. What they are doing, however, is releasing new GPS models after a long period of post-acquisition inactivity.

The Magellan Maestro 4700: Old Hat

The Magellan Maestro 4700 is set to debut on July 15th, and is currently available for pre-order through Amazon.com. The manufacturer's suggested retail price is $299.99, fairly standard for a device of this type. It's a GPS receiver with a 4.7-inch widescreen display, and many familiar features such as hands-fee Bluetooth functionality, lane-assist prompts, and voice-command interfacing.

In short, nothing very new or exciting. While Garmin is trying to shake up the GPS receiver market by including free traffic updates with their new devices, a service that previously required a separate monthly subscription, Magellan is sticking to the basics. It's a formula that doesn't inspire much confidence in the brand's ability to survive.

Saturation Point

GPS is becoming a bonus feature rather than a main event. It's not something consumers think of as a standalone element anymore. Rather, as it becomes more prevalent on smartphones, camcorders, digital cameras, and other electronics devices, its primacy becomes diminished. The concept of a standalone GPS receiver makes no sense in such an environment, and it doesn't seem like there's much to be done to combat this complacency. Right now, days of "the big three" are numbered, and it's not going to be an easy transition for them. At least, as mentioned two of the three are making plans for the inevitable. Magellan, it seems, is just waiting to be put out of its misery.