Garmin Settles with TomTom and More on Data Company Acquisitions

While the two are in a bidding war (Garmin is said to still be mulling a second counter offer that’d raise it above TomTom’s) the two companies settled all the intellectual property cases pending in the U.K., the Netherlands, Wisconsin and Texas. No details on terms of the agreement.

Bloomberg offers up an analysis of the Tele Atlas bidding war which matches a lot of what I heard at deCarta’s devCON over the past few days. PND makers are getting squeezed by in-car systems on one side and cell phones on the other. (deCarta sees the solution as connected PNDs and I think they make a good point.)

Among those quoted was the day two keynoter: Jeff Rath

“They’re trying to protect themselves as the whole world goes wireless around them,’’ said Jeff Rath, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in Vancouver, who tells clients to hold onto Garmin. The auction for Tele Atlas, based in Den Bosch, Netherlands, is about “self-preservation.’’