TomTom Ends Map Updates For Numerous Sat Navs

TomTom

I think it wouldn’t be too sweeping a statement to suggest that if we don’t personally own a TomTom satellite navigation system, we probably know someone who does.

TomTom quickly established itself very early on in the sat nav market. Offering customers access to the mapping system at a reasonably low cost over a span of around 10 years TomTom did very well for itself.

The decline of TomTom

Don’t get me wrong, TomTom as a company is still very much a going concern. It would, however, not be fair to suggest that the company has had it all its own way in recent years.

Having recently pulled out of the wearable and sports camera market, it’s all seen demand for its product drop. This is no doubt partly due to sat navs being a reasonable standard build-in addition to a car and also the rise of smartphones.

Likely based on this, TomTom has therefore announced that the following models are no longer going to receive updates or new maps.

Do I still get my free lifetime updates?

TomTom has said that they will continue to release updates for these models, but only those necessary to keep them running and connected to satellites.

The short answer is no. This in itself might seem like a contradiction. I mean, lifetime is lifetime surely? Well, no. It’s not. On their website, TomTom points out that ‘lifetime’ only refers to an acceptable lifespan of a product.

Incidentally, they also point out some discounts on models which are still supported. Not that they are drawing any comparison between the two decisions.

Therefore, despite the fact that you may have bought one of the above models only last Christmas, the model itself is now deemed passed its lifespan.

Why are they doing this?

The immediate conclusion is to sell more modern models. if your current model is no longer receiving map updates, it’s only a matter of time before it’s largely useless. Particularly if you regularly commute through cities whose infrastructure is always changing.

So, I think it’s a cynical move frankly, but what do you think? A necessary decision to move away from older designs? A cynical cash grab? – Let us know in the comments!