View Full Version : Garmin to acquire DeLorme
jshannon
02-13-2016, 11:23
Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of DeLorme, a privately-held company that designs and markets consumer-based satellite tracking devices with two-way communication and navigational capabilities.
http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/story/1455214139k6hu8m53522
I've used DeLorme paper maps in the past. I thought they were good quality.
DeLorme Gazeteers are a section hiker's best friend.
coach lou
02-13-2016, 14:59
DeLorme Gazeteers are a section hiker's best friend.
I have a dozen of them............I hope they don't move Eartha!
psyculman
02-13-2016, 17:38
I have a dozen of them............I hope they don't move Eartha!
Great place to visit, hope it doesn't get closed! Lots of maps are available at the store there.
I didn't know about Eartha! Must go visit some day. I used to have a DeLorme mapping program for my PC, way back before Google maps got good. I used it to do "flyovers" of upcoming section hikes. I use the Gazeteers to find trailheads and plot bike routes between them. These days I scan pages from the Gazeteer onto my phone for reference while hiking. Love a good map.
Check out the Benchmark Atlas. Not as widespread as Delorme (yet) and mainly in the American West, but i find them preferable to the Gazeteer in most cases when available.
peakbagger
02-13-2016, 20:09
They are closing the map store in Freeport but they haven't said anything about Eartha. I hope they still let the public get in to see it but without the store they may not want the hassle. It would be hard to donate it to someone since its so big.
Water Rat
02-13-2016, 21:16
According to the Bangor Daily News article, Eartha is staying put and will still be open for public viewing. The map store is sadly closing in March. :(
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/11/business/gps-firm-garmin-to-buy-iconic-maine-mapmaker-delorme/
Offshore
02-14-2016, 09:40
Check out the Benchmark Atlas. Not as widespread as Delorme (yet)...
That's the understatement of the day - DeLorme - 50 states. Benchmark - 11 states (exclusively in the west). It will be interesting to see how Garmin incorporates the DeLorme atlas data into their cartographic products. It would also be nice if Garmin ever allowed one to use a legally-licensed Garmin map on all of Garmin devices registered to the map licensee - like the Avenza map store for Apple and Android devices.
Wise Old Owl
02-14-2016, 10:07
Cool - could you imagine a Delorme In-Reach with a Garmin mapping system all in one?
coach lou
02-14-2016, 10:58
According to the Bangor Daily News article, Eartha is staying put and will still be open for public viewing. The map store is sadly closing in March. :(
http://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/11/business/gps-firm-garmin-to-buy-iconic-maine-mapmaker-delorme/
Thanks Rat!!! Glad to read that!
4eyedbuzzard
02-14-2016, 12:16
Cool - could you imagine a Delorme In-Reach with a Garmin mapping system all in one?That synergy was definitely a factor in the acquisition according to news reports. How long it will take them to bring something along this line to market is the question, and at what price. The acquisition also gives such potential products the financial backing of the larger company, to fund R&D, and also for litigation expenses, etc.
http://www.pressherald.com/2016/02/11/yarmouth-based-mapmaker-delorme-sold-to-garmin/
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-garmin-maine-based-gps-products-company.html
http://gpsworld.com/garmin-to-acquire-outdoor-tracking-company-delorme/
That's the understatement of the day - DeLorme - 50 states. Benchmark - 11 states (exclusively in the west).
Those 11 states cover roughly a third of the CONUS in terms of total area covered, however. Now, I admit it did give you a chance to make a flippant remark. As inaccurate as it may be it seems. :) (Or do you REALLY like this classic comic?? (http://mapdesign.icaci.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MapCarte296_newyorker_detail.png))
In any case, it was to make people aware of a growing alternative. Thanks for helping me out. For those who travel beyond the NJ pike, they are good to know. ;)
Offshore
02-14-2016, 13:35
Those 11 states cover roughly a third of the CONUS in terms of total area covered, however. Now, I admit it did give you a chance to make a flippant remark. As inaccurate as it may be it seems. :) (Or do you REALLY like this classic comic?? (http://mapdesign.icaci.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MapCarte296_newyorker_detail.png))
In any case, it was to make people aware of a growing alternative. Thanks for helping me out. For those who travel beyond the NJ pike, they are good to know. ;)
Not a flippant remark - an accurate one. Continuing on the accuracy thing, not one square foot of the "third of the CONUS" you reference is anywhere near the AT, so while it may be growing, its decidedly not an alternative. Next we cue the NJ jokes, but I'll not engage since I'm long out of middle school. Now do you want to talk about passive-aggressiveness?
That synergy was definitely a factor in the acquisition according to news reports. How long it will take them to bring something along this line to market is the question, and at what price. The acquisition also gives such potential products the financial backing of the larger company, to fund R&D, and also for litigation expenses, etc.
That is often the rationale given for mergers, IPOs and the like. Doesn't always pan out. Sometimes it's just a matter of a larger outfit purchasing a smaller competitor in order to shut it down.
heatherfeather
02-14-2016, 14:29
I was seriously contemplating picking up a delorme inreach, but this news makes me hesitate. I wonder if product support for the inreach will be continued.
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Not a flippant remark - an accurate one. Continuing on the accuracy thing, not one square foot of the "third of the CONUS" you reference is anywhere near the AT, so while it may be growing, its decidedly not an alternative. Next we cue the NJ jokes, but I'll not engage since I'm long out of middle school. Now do you want to talk about passive-aggressiveness?
This is the General Gear (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php/38-General-Gear-Talk)Talk, not AT specific. So....
" Not as widespread as Delorme (yet) and mainly in the American West, but i find them preferable to the Gazeteer in most cases when available."
With the original sentence above, it seems I am pretty accurate. truthful and helpful. OTOH, seems like you want to get in a debate for some odd reason with some thinly veiled sarcasm. I'm just merely aggressive ad opposed to making passive remarks..eh? :)
In any case, the OP was from Texas..and nowhere near the AT corridor as well. Makes my above sentence even more germane for a non-AT specific sub-forum and a good alternative when available....you know, like for people from Texas who posted the info.
Now it this was an AT shuttle or section hiking specific sub-forum, I could see your point. Remember this is GENERAL gear talk.
Offshore
02-14-2016, 15:26
I was seriously contemplating picking up a delorme inreach, but this news makes me hesitate. I wonder if product support for the inreach will be continued.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would suspect that they would for a couple of reasons. First Garmin from has a pretty solid record for supporting older hardware - at least much better than Magellan ever did based on my own personal and professional experience. Second, the inReach is a completely new product type for Garmin (good news for DeLorme employees) that has little competition other than Spot or the "true" personal locater beacons (not getting into the "what is best" argument). It's an expansion of Garmin's product line, not a duplication. The inReaches also represent a guaranteed revenue stream for Garmin. You need a subscription or they are worthless. Think about it. A GPS owner may or may not buy some map sets, but the inReach owner needs to keep renewing year after year.
But I think the real rational for the deal lies in the cartography. This deal is a way for Garmin to get access to DeLorme's full 50 state cartographic and point-of-interest datasets from their Atlases and Gazetteers that cover basically all of the CONUS in terms of area and population. The cartography business has consolidated with Google and Apple doing their own thing primarily for advertising, and TeleAtlas being acquired by TomTom (after an unsuccessful purchase attempt by Garmin), and Garmin licensing NavTeq (now owned by Nokia). This was probably a defensive move on the part of Garmin to get their mapping data in house, avoiding being locked out of the data that makes their devices useful. If Garmin couldn't renew a license with Navteq, they'd have a real problem.
I think its a good thing - Garmin makes great hardware but has none of their own cartography and DeLorme has great maps but very limited notable hardware other than the inReach, so it will be interesting to see what develops from the synergy.
Offshore
02-14-2016, 15:27
This is the General Gear (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php/38-General-Gear-Talk)Talk, not AT specific. So....
" Not as widespread as Delorme (yet) and mainly in the American West, but i find them preferable to the Gazeteer in most cases when available."
With the original sentence above, it seems I am pretty accurate. truthful and helpful. OTOH, seems like you want to get in a debate for some odd reason. As an aside, the OP was from Texas..and nowhere near the AT corridor as well. Makes my above sentence even more germane for a non-AT specific sub-forum and a good alternative when available.
Now it this was an AT shuttle or section hiking specific sub-forum, I could see your point. Remember this is GENERAL gear talk.
There, there...
I've got an ancient DeLorme PN-20 GPS from 2008 that basically never got used. Paid $300 or so for it at REI, back in the day. Not one of my better investments in electronics.
Offshore
02-14-2016, 15:33
I've got an ancient DeLorme PN-20 GPS from 2008 that basically never got used. Paid $300 or so for it at REI, back in the day. Not one of my better investments in electronics.
I know what you're saying. It's always nostalgic but frustrating to delve into the gear crypt!
I've got an ancient DeLorme PN-20 GPS from 2008 that basically never got used. Paid $300 or so for it at REI, back in the day. Not one of my better investments in electronics.
Odd to think that a smart phone of this price range (if not lesss!) has largely replaced a consumer GPS of this type.. and can do email, take decent photos, take notes, have guide books etc. etc. MAkes me wonder what technology will be like in 2024...
I know what you're saying. It's always nostalgic but frustrating to delve into the gear crypt!
I can't think of single piece of camp gear I own that cost that much. Tent? Sleeping bag? Pack? Clothes? Boots? Nope. Only the electronics. And digital cameras. Like setting money on fire.
heatherfeather
02-14-2016, 15:53
I've got an ancient DeLorme PN-20 GPS from 2008 that basically never got used. Paid $300 or so for it at REI, back in the day. Not one of my better investments in electronics.
I already carry a spot device, but have wished I could send specific messages many times, particularly with regard to arrival times/trail pickups. That would seem to be the major advantage, if you carry a smartphone, which I typically do for reading and music if the mood strikes. Now I did buy a plain old gps a couple of years ago, and got virtually no use out of it. I tried playing with it a few times and it just made me realize I like paper maps a whole lot better.
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peakbagger
02-14-2016, 17:13
Somewhere around the house I have a copy of the original Maine Gazateer. It was black and white and a bit crude based on a census generated state highway document but when it came out it was a best seller in Maine. Someone came up with special case that would strap to back of car seat and it was also a best seller. When I sectioned the southern AT the GA, NC, TN and VA editions were invaluable for planning road crossings and near road crossings.
From that initial Maine book they created an empire of maps but the shift to free electronic maps hurt them.