Google launches Android app, trashes competitor’s stock value

All the tech blogs are raving today about Google’s new GPS application for Android based phones called Google Maps Navigation. My good friend Frederic Lardinois over at ReadWriteWeb calls it the first killer app for Android 2.0:

Android 2.0 just got its first killer app: Google Maps Navigation. Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 will be available for free and will be part of the default Google Maps app on Android 2.0 phones. The service offers all the features that users expect from a modern GPS app, including traffic data, 3D view and turn-by-turn voice guidance. Because it’s connected to the Google cloud, the app can also display street view images, satellite imagery and real-time traffic data. Google also implemented a voice recognition feature.

Well it might be a killer app but according to the stock market after it was announced it is also a stock value killer if you happen to be a company that is actually trying to make money in the same field.

Yup. Both TomTom and Garmin took a severe hit with their stock value plummeting by -38.11% and -14.72% respectively.

This is in my opinion one of the biggest problems facing companies today. Sure you might have a great product and even if you are offering for free or at a fair market price the moment Google steps into the sandbox you’re screwed. Well maybe not screwed but pretty damn close to it.

image courtesy of GadgetVenue