Time to sell Garmin

Article Excerpt

GARMIN $32.48 (Nasdaq symbol GRMN; SI Rating: Speculative) (913-397-8200; www.garmin.com; Shares outstanding: 200.7 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion) faces an uncertain future because selling prices for its devices are falling and competition is increasing. Motorola and Verizon Wireless recently announced the first smartphone to feature Google’s Android 2.0 operating system for mobile devices. The new phone will allow users to access Google Maps Navigation, which provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps. The phone will also offer additional features, such as live traffic and business information, and Google Street View, which shows users photographs of the streets they look up. Garmin makes 80% of its sales from selling consumer products, like hand-held GPS receivers, portable navigation devices for cars, and fixed-mount GPS systems that are used in cars and boats. As the announcement from Verizon and Motorola shows, this market is increasingly threatened by rapidly evolving GPS applications in smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, Palm’s Pre and others. We no…