Has Tomtom given up on the NA market?

[Targonis]

It seems strange that there have been so few updates for the North American market from Tomtom for the past year. The 740 was released, no 940, and none of the x50 models have shown up. I have my 930, which is doing well for me, but I am the sort of person who likes to plan for my upgrades. So, does anyone know what is going on with device releases?

 

[dhn]

For NA (the States, anyway) over the last year the following have been introduced: EASE, 530, 540, 540 World Traveller.

 

[Targonis]

For NA (the States, anyway) over the last year the following have been introduced: EASE, 530, 540, 540 World Traveller.

And, these are in the x40 generation, which SHOULD have been phased out and replaced by the 550 by now. The 750, 940, and 950 have not showed up, and this is the issue. I can understand a LITTLE bit of a delay between markets, but in this case, it seems like the market here is being neglected.

 

[davidalan99]

And, these are in the x40 generation, which SHOULD have been phased out and replaced by the 550 by now. The 750, 940, and 950 have not showed up, and this is the issue. I can understand a LITTLE bit of a delay between markets, but in this case, it seems like the market here is being neglected.

I can not say for sure, but I think that has more to do with HD traffic, not yet in the states vs standard traffic. It would be nice to see two updates:
1) Larger screen sizes
2) Better LCD's. more visible in bright and or direct sun light

Even better, a TomTom screen shield form fitted to the unit.

 

[dhn]

I have just bought an anti-glare screen for my unit from these folks:
Clarivue Screen Protectors - Blackberry, iPhone 3G, HTC Nexus One protection

and it seems to help.

 

[davidalan99]

I have just bought an anti-glare screen for my unit from these folks:
Clarivue Screen Protectors - Blackberry, iPhone 3G, HTC Nexus One protection

and it seems to help.

Sorry I should have said
I am looking more towards a sun shade. the anti glare (except for Zag) do help a littel and great to protect the unit with hurting (preventing action) on the touch screen

 

[offthegrid]

I really do not believe that the NA market will ever get the same HD Traffic as exists in Europe unless TT buys out AirSage (unlikely) or someone with deep pockets buys TomTom.

The timing of the crash of the world economy with simultaneous downward pressure on pnd pricing due to competition from cell phones etc has made an HD traffic roll out here unlikely.

However I hope I am wrong.

I can not say for sure, but I think that has more to do with HD traffic, not yet in the states vs standard traffic. It would be nice to see two updates:
1) Larger screen sizes
2) Better LCD's. more visible in bright and or direct sun light

Even better, a TomTom screen shield form fitted to the unit.

 

[mvl]

If I ask all my friends, I (as a high end purchaser who bought the two top Tomtom devices) am the exception. Most of my friends want cheap, simiple, PNDs. And they only use them for vacations.

When Americans go high-end, they copy the Japanese and install in-dash units. There are only a few of us in the US who are tech savvy enough to know that a $300 GO740 or GO930 is far superior to the $2000 in-dash units.

So it seems right that Tomtom focused on the low-end in the US.

It's a sad thing, as there are many of us high end owners who feel left out. Hopefully Tomtom changes it's mind later and re-considers high-end devices. There are tons of customers looking for an HD traffic launch. If someone like Garmin beats Tomtom to launching HD traffic in the US, Tomtom will be sorry they waited so long when they see all the HD traffic sales.

 

[gatorguy]

I don't know that Tomtom wouldn't like to offer HDTraffic here. My guess is that it's more about money than anything else. No matter how much of a rosy financial picture they're trying to paint, money is tight. I'm sure you noticed the news item from last month reporting that Tomtom had hired an outside banking firm to handle their world-wide cash collections on a daily basis. One of the things mentioned was that it would enable TomTom to reduce overdraft charges. If they have checking accounts with insufficient funds, I'd consider that worrisome.

 

[Targonis]

They did release the XL series here in the USA, and even a refresh would be welcomed. A big issue is that when customers and potential customers see no new devices, they start to forget about the company. It is a marketing issue, and that isn't good. Now, Tomtom could release a different line of products with faster processors and such as the way to release new devices without adding new features. That is just common sense as the "best of both worlds". Still, why no 940 when the 740 was released? Or a version with more RAM to handle the larger maps that WILL be released in time?

Basically, it is difficult to tell people to buy a device that is several generations out of date and probably won't get the new features that will be advertised.

 

[gatorguy]

I suspect we will finally see a new hardware platfform from Tomtom this year. You're right that the current one is getting a bit long in the tooth, having been in use since back when the x10's were announced?

(Was that really in 2006?? Time flies)