A little surprised that the stock market should fall down so much. After all, how many phones actually run on Android. If this was an iPhone app, that would have meant a lot more "danger" for the GPS manufacturers.
I'm much more surprised that the stock holders saw this as news. Something like this coming along should have been beyond obvious as soon as the iPhone launched - with more memory, a faster processor, and a higher quality screen than those crappy TomToms.
You'd be amazed how much isn't obvious. Your insticts on the technical chess game are probably much better than most on wall st. Read the tech analysis in a top notch investment rag like Barrons. You'll be shocked.
iPhone's not so much of a problem for them - they probably don't mind competing with a paid app.
I meant the general value their company - the value of the specialized GPS widget hardware, the relationships with manufacturers, etc. all goes to 0 once a general purpose device which can provide a better experience comes out.
I think it was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, but investors do realize that the end won't be tomorrow for GPS makers, but it will certainly be in the next few years as new android sets come out.
I respectfully disagree. It is not a knee jerk reaction. The writing is on the wall for many single use 'gadgets': gps, point & shoot cameras, calculators, etc. It is not google per ce, but powerful pocket computers (iPhone, Android, etc.) that is driving the change. There will always be a need for niche single use gadgets, but for the mass market the multi-purpose pocket computer will dominate.
It is deja vu all over again.
It is a knee-jerk reaction because Garmin presumably is going to react and may even get into the Android game themselves. It's too soon to write them off.
Stock prices should equal the future discounted stream of a firm's cash flow. A free option for the sole product that you produce will certainly lower the long-term prospects of profitability.