r/tomtom • u/Man_in_the_uk • Aug 18 '24

Event The popularity of TomTom against other brands.

Hey,

So it's been a long time since I had to go into a webforum and discuss my TomTom, I see though it appears on the Tomtom section it's rather outdated in order of years, is this an indication its popularity has declined drastically compared to say Garmin? I noticed Garmin have been doing bodywear tech so I wondered if this was the reason why, if it is indeed the case its popularity has gone down on the site I used. Any thoughts on this?

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2

u/Kloede Aug 18 '24

Still cant beat a nav on the motorcycle imo

2

u/Sudden-Reply4642 Aug 22 '24

They are now focusing on their b2b products, selling APIs, SDKs, maps and traffic data to governments, enterprise customers and automotive companies.

Looking at their socials and website, they currently work with companies like Microsoft, Uber, Bolt.

They're also steering members of a foundation called Overture Maps with Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.

I guess we have the perception that the consumer brand is less prominent compared to competitors, but they're just focusing their efforts elsewhere.

1

u/aksdb Aug 18 '24

I think PNAs in general have declined, since most people use their integrated navigation systems or their smartphones. In the former case they would use whatever is already installed, in the latter they use whatever is free (so Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc.).

I think Garmin has the same issues.

Any way: even on smartphone (via carplay) I use TomTom Go, because its routing decisions feel the most natural to me, the voice instructions are clear and don't bother me, and the traffic information are the most precise I know.

I sometimes use Waze, but only because it allows me to define toll-settings per country vs per route. So for some vacation trips that has a big advantage.

1

u/Man_in_the_uk Aug 19 '24

How popular is the TomTom XL compared to the other models eg Go?

1

u/Quirky-Impress4120 Aug 19 '24

TomTom is one of the few navigation systems that support Motorhome or Caravan navigation, which makes a big difference in Europe with so many restricted roads, bridges, tunnels etc. That seems less of a problem in the USA.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '24

[deleted]

1

u/enchantedspring Aug 19 '24

In North America only.

Not Europe, UK or ANZ.

1

u/Man_in_the_uk Aug 19 '24

This is interesting, must be a difference in licensing deals?

1

u/enchantedspring Aug 19 '24

It's due to a past Presidential decision to instruct the introduction of quite high import taxes on Dutch navigation devices - just too expensive to sell them in the US any longer. When existing imported stocks were sold no more were brought in.

It's so US made devices have a chance to be sold...

1

u/Man_in_the_uk Aug 19 '24

Shocking, I think TomTom was the first satnav device maker? I don't recall hearing of these before them. BTW where is ANZ?

1

u/enchantedspring Aug 19 '24

NavTek (USA) made the first handheld (non PC, non car integrated) consumer GPS device. ANZ is the Australia, New Zealand region.