A few changes on this months Top 10 list as TomTom finally make their appearance at number 9 and some of the older Garmin units are discontinued to make way for newer technology.

1 - Garmin Nuvi 200
2 - Garmin Nuvi 200W
3 - Garmin Nuvi 710
4 - Garmin Nuvi 205W
5 - Garmin Nuvi 205
6 - Garmin Nuvi 310 - (Unit has been discontinued in SA)
7 - JNC Navig8 GPS-580
8 - Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX
9 - TomTom XL Southern Africa
10 - Garmin Nuvi 760

Two new Garmin units, the Nuvi 205 and 205W come in to replace the discontinued Nuvi 250W and the much older Garmin Quest units. Although not even close to the equivalent of the Quest units, the “lower end” Nuvis seem to have found quite a large following with those customers who initially purchased a “top end outdoor unit” only to find that they never used half of the features. Now, when it comes time to upgrade their units, they tend to settle for something without all the bells & whistles (and at less than half the price).

Expect to see the prices of the Nuvi 200 and Nuvi 200W dropping as the larger retailers get rid of old stock in anticipation of the newer 205 and 205W units taking over the market. Also new on the market are the waterproof Nuvi 500 units which, although not yet on the list, I’m sure will be showing up soon as the outdoor guys (and bikers) start replacing their units.

Surprisingly, the GPSMAP 60CSx comes in again at number 8 on the list but I suspect that this is mainly due to the unit being an old favorite of the “hardcore” handheld users. And, although the Colorado and the newly released Oregon have some very fancy features and a new user interface, these old favorites are still the units being recommended the most by the experienced GPS veterans. Word-of-mouth is still a powerful buying motivator.

[Please Note: This information is based on figures from the monthly GfK Retail Reports. GfK Retail and Technology tracks the sales of consumer durables through monthly retail audits done on model level, this audit is carried out across all relevant channels of distribution. GfK currently tracks and reports on 45 product categories within the consumer electronic, domestic appliances, telecoms, IT, gaming and Sports markets. These reports are free of charge to any retailer participating on the GfK Retail Panel. Gismap GPS Shop is part of the GfK Retail Panel. For more information, please contact GfK on: (011) 803 1300 or www.gfkrt.com. (Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by the authors on this website/blog do not necessarily reflect the views of GfK Group, GfK RT South Africa or any of its affiliate companies.)]

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