TomTom responds to Garmin price cuts

Last September, we reported on the big price cuts of Garmin products, and we wondered what TomTom's response, as European market leader, would be. Well, here it is: the company has now cut the prices of their GO series considerably. The top-of-the-range model, the 910, is now being sold for € 599. (£ 399). And what do you know, that's exactly what the current Garmin high-end model, the NÃŒvi 660, is selling for...

Step by step

TomTom have chosen to introduce their planned price cuts worldwide, but also step by step. The price cuts were first introduced on October 20th in the UK, where several of the GO units became considerably cheaper. The rest of Europe followed in the first week of November, and the United States and Australia are next.

In an official statement, TomTom said: "This decision is based on our drive to reach new consumer groups and to bring a new category of products to the mass market. As demand for our products is growing so substantially, we see substantial cost benefits that we can transfer to our customers".

All GO x10

The latest price cuts come right before the vital Christmas sales period, and apply to all GO x10 models. The GO 510 now sells for € 449 (£ 299), the GO 710 for € 499 (£ 335) and the GO 910, as already stated, for € 599 (£ 399). This means the 710 and 910 will be positioned at least € 100 (£ 67) cheaper than they were at their introduction, about six months ago.

The GO 510's price wasn't lowered by the same amount as the other two units though, and this is easily explained: if they had dropped the 510's price by € 100, it would have cost exactly the same as the ONE New Edition. TomTom wasn't prepared to do this, in order to keep a price differential between the ranges.