Garmin delays Nuvifone

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 31 Jul 2008 at 08:58

Garmin has delayed its entrance into the mobile phone market, compounding a difficult second quarter for the company.

The Nuvifone was slated for released in the fourth quarter, but has now been pushed back until the first half of 2009 with the company claiming that "meeting some of the carrier-specific requirements will take longer than anticipated."

The device aims to take on Apple's iPhone by pushing its GPS features to the forefront, including instant geotagging of pictures taken on the cameraphone and a "where am I?" tool that will instantly locate the user on a map, pointing out all the local points of interest.

The delay compounds a difficult second quarter for the company, which saw sales growth slow to 23% from 72% a year earlier, hitting $911.7 million, well shy of analysts' projections of $955.6 million.

Garmin says it has been hurt by slower growth in the personal navigation device market, price cuts and fierce competition from new entrants.