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With "Cash For Clunker’s" End, Lower GPS Prices
Electronics | Oct 27, 09
In the wake of the conclusion of the government’s “Cash for Clunker’s” auto purchase subsidy program, it appears GPS prices are starting to buckle.
We’ve seen a 7.5% decline in the value of our Automotive GPS – Voice Recognition Index (see our press release). This contrasts with only a 1% decline for the entire month of September. Without federal stimulus, overall demand for vehicles may be reduced, and it’s not unreasonable to hypothesize that this softening may filter through to auto accessories, including GPS.
To be sure, even the recent period of GPS price stability followed dramatic declines earlier in the year. Consider for example the Gamin Nuvi 855, currently the most popular such unit with speech recognition on PriceSCAN. The lowest vendor offered price for this item has fallen some 50%, from about $460 back in mid-February to less than $230 today.
Time Period: 2/16/2009 through 10/19/2009
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
Moving into the holidays, one factor that could be at least somewhat supportive of GPS pricing is higher gasoline prices. If the recent rally in petroleum prices translates into higher gas prices for consumers, the value of GPS may be supported by the devices’ ability to save drivers the fuel that would otherwise be wasted by taking inefficient routes.
At any rate, it’s worth remembering that the higher pump prices go, the more the gift of GPS (and thus of not driving around lost) should be appreciated by those on your shopping list.
Posted by jeffrey.trester (Permalink)
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