Garmin Opens Shop In Australia

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A spot of industry news for you on a Thursday morning: Garmin – whose products were previously distributed in Australia by GME – has opened up shop in Australia.

Why is this important, you ask? Well, it means that there’s a good chance we’ll see Garmin’s range of GPS devices arrive on our shores quicker and cheaper than before. Plus, they’re likely to release more of their products over here, so hopefully you can expect to see things like the Astro GPS dog-collar on store shelves in the near future. And with the nuvifone set to come out next year, having the parent company on our shores greatly increases the chances that we won’t have to wait for years to get it ourselves…

In Garmin’s own words, here are some of the benefits of having the company set up shop down under:

Garmin decided to open its doors in Australia as we wanted to work more closely with our dealers, to gain a better understanding of the market in Australia and of course to improve our market share across all of our divisions – automotive, fitness, handheld and marine. We believe we can offer end-users a variety of additional benefits by being based in Australia including:
 
A customer service team trained by Garmin Head Quarters in all technical aspects of Garmin’s products only. Customers can be assured when they contact our Product Support Specialists that their sole focus is on Garmin products and that their knowledge is not split amongst a variety of brands.
 
Increased distribution of product over time due to the Garmin dedicated sales team, therefore making it easier for consumers to purchase Garmin products.
 
Over time consumers should find many of Garmin’s products more affordable as we undergo price re-positioning.
 
Ability to begin offering Australian consumers the full range of Garmin products, rather than selective products.
 
Increased education and awareness of the Garmin brand and its products through a variety of methods such as advertising, sponsorship and public relations due to the Garmin dedicated marketing staff.

Garmin have always had really good products  especially in the satnav space, but have struggled a bit with market share in Australia. Whether opening offices in Australia will change that is anyones guess, but I’d say there’s a pretty good chance.