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TomTom, known best for standalone GPS navigation devices, is attempting to pare the falling demand for personal navigation devices (PND) — its core business — with a wider range of consumer devices in the country.
The company on Wednesday launched TomTom Runner GPS Watch priced at ₹12,999, Multi-Sport GPS at ₹15,499, Runner Cardio GPS Watch at ₹20,999 and the Multi-Sport Cardio Watch at ₹23,499 exclusively on Flipkart.
According to source aware of the company’s strategy, a large volume of the company’s business is coming from tie-ups with carmakers for inbuilt systems, besides tie-ups with technology companies for GPS navigations for mobile devices.
An analyst said, “PND market in India has not really picked up. One of the reasons is that with most smartphones being equipped with efficient GPS navigation systems, few people want to invest another ₹9,000 to ₹10,000 on a GPS device. That, I think, is the trend globally.”
The company has reported a dip in consumer revenues of two per cent in each of the second and third quarters of this fiscal. For most part, this was attributed to decline in the PND markets. However, aggressive market campaign for the GPS sport watches also helped the company ramp up the visibility of this product in international markets.
However, the wearable devices segment, such as smart watches, has not done well in India, with these products being seen as snazzy gadgets with limited use. The high price-points, too, have been a negative for the segment.
Sport watches, themselves, are not new for TomTom, which earlier had a tie up with Nike for sport watches, and since April 2013 went solo in the wearable devices segment. The TomTom sport watches, though, are not targeted to be sold as ‘smart watches’ and are being marketed as fitness products towards sports enthusiasts
While the company entered India in 2011, it has brought in the range of sport watches, which are already selling in over 26 countries, only now. For the Dutch navigation device maker, which is targeting revenues between €930 and €950 million for this fiscal, and is facing the problem of consistently slipping consumer revenues, this may be an effort to capture a new market in India, widely recognised as one of the largest potential markets for technology products.
The company is also looking launch more sport watches, geared to suit specific sports such as golf, which is already present in the international market.
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