Of course, that's the optimistic perspective. And Garmin could definitely use the competition (though DeLorme seems to be gaining a little market share with the introduction of their PN-40). Meanwhile, both Magellan and MiTAC are quicker to innovate than Garmin, so they stand a chance of competing on new feature sets such as live weather radar and GPS position reporting ala the SPOT Satellite Messenger. MiTAC seems more capable and experienced than Magellan when it comes to working with the Windows CE platform, so perhaps they could reduce the bugs that, for example, have bedeviled the Triton series. Despite its small size compared to the auto sector, the handheld market could prove enticing since prices have held up better there. This could also give MiTAC an entree into a handheld market that is overwhelmingly dominated by Garmin. On the consumer side, I believe that MiTAC may drop the Mio line entirely in the U.S., seeking to capitalize on (and hopefully revitalize) the well known Magellan name. All of this leads us to believe that there will be an ongoing relationship between the Magellan Professional division and MiTAC.
I'm guessing that the latter is retaining some rights to use the Magellan name and may have worked out a manufacturing deal with MiTAC, since at least one professional and consumer product shares the same platform - the MobileMapper 6 which appears to be a beefed up Triton. While Shah Capital bought Magellan for $170 million in 2006, this does not translate into that large of a loss, since they appear to be holding onto the Magellan Professional division. MiTAC and the Magellan Professional division MiTAC also said that the deal includes Magellan's "brand, trademark, software, intellectual properties, operating staff, client base and marketing network." "Mitac will operate business for each of its three own brands, Mio, Navman (acquired in March 2007) and Magellan, independently, the company pointed out."
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