Magellan to sell consumer GPS division to MiTAC

UPDATE: I've posted some additional info and a bit of speculation, um, analysis.

Magellan Navigation announced this morning that it is selling its consumer products division to MiTAC International, which also owns Mio. The transaction is expected to close in January. The Magellan consumer products division created the Magellan RoadMate, Maestro and Triton product lines.

This is not entirely unsurprising; there has been rampant speculation about the fate of Magellan's consumer products division for months now.

No information is available yet about what MiTAC's plans are for the Magellan product line -- whether it will be kept separate from Mio or merged with it, plans for support, etc. And there may not be any more details released until the Consumer Electronics Show next month, but I will definitely be there asking about it.

Here's the full news release:

Magellan Enters into Definitive Agreement to Sell the Magellan Consumer Products Division to MiTAC International Corporation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Magellan Navigation, Inc. today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Magellan consumer products division to MiTAC International Corp. Closing of the transaction is anticipated in January of 2009. Financial terms are not disclosed.

Recognized as an industry innovator, the Magellan consumer products division is the creator of the award-winning Magellan(R) RoadMate(R) and Maestro(TM) series portable car navigation systems, and the Magellan Triton(R) outdoor handheld navigation devices. The company is recognized worldwide through its Magellan brand.

About Magellan

Magellan allows people to travel, work and play their way with leading portable navigation and positioning solutions across multiple consumer markets. Recognized as an industry innovator, the company is the creator of the award-winning Magellan RoadMate, and Maestro series portable car navigation systems, as well as the CrossoverGPS(TM) and Magellan Triton outdoor handheld navigation devices. Magellan is privately held and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information on Magellan, visit http://www.magellangps.com/.

About MiTAC International Corp.

MiTAC International is a global ITC (information technology & consumer electronics) company headquartered in Taiwan and publicly listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Its business spans three major areas -- mobile communications (personal navigation devices, GPS smart phones and mobile Internet devices), enterprise systems (workstations, servers, and storage equipment) and client systems (personal computers and digital home entertainment products). MiTAC International has large vertically integrated manufacturing sites in China, as well as extensive R&D facilities in US, China, Taiwan and New Zealand. MiTAC International also has marketing operations in the U.S., West Europe, Central East Europe, APAC, China, Japan, Australia and rest of the world. The company is recognized by the industry for its innovative product design capability as well as its integrated design-and-delivery system. For more information about Mitac, please go to: http://www.mitac.com/

(C) 2008 Magellan Navigation, Inc. All rights reserved. Magellan, Maestro, Magellan RoadMate, CrossoverGPS, and Triton are trademarks of Magellan Navigation, Inc.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement and supporting materials may contain forward-looking statements which address our expected future business and financial performance. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections of future Company or industry performance based on management's judgment, beliefs, current trends and market conditions, and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements.

Comments

[Marty]

Interesting, considering you wrote a few days ago that MiTAC/Mio was a GPS company without direction. The blind leading the blind?

[Craig from Tritonforum.com]

This could be a good thing.

[Rich Owings]

@Craig - I hope it's a good thing. Garmin needs more competition, not less.

@Marty - My wife mentioned that article when I told her this morning too.

Also, GPS Business News posted their take on it a little while ago, casting some doubt on MiTAC's ability to make it work...
http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/index.php?action=article&numero=1232