Been wondering if we would see new Mio units on the left side of the Atlantic? I have, along with many others; some even suggest that since Mio parent Mitac bought Magellan’s consumer business, that it wouldn’t keep the Mio brand in North America. Not so, says uber gadget blog Engadget; it cites an anonymous tip that says new Mio-branded portable navigation devices (PNDs) are due to to hit U.S. shores shortly.

Seems two new Mio Moov PNDs, the S401 and the S501 will be coming to Radio Shack in the next few weeks, priced for the budget market. To wit (says Engadget):

Baby brother 401 will sell for $129 and has a 4.3-inch screen and 4 million preloaded POIs, while the $169 501 bumps it up to 4.7 inches and 12 million. Both have Mio’s newish “Spirit” interface, but we’re most intrigued by the repeated mentions of gas price searching and Google Send to GPS in the docs we were leaked, which suggest integration with a service like MSN Direct.

So, if we assume this is true — and I think Engadget can be given the benefit of the doubt — what does this mean
vis-à-vis Mio and Magellan?

A little business history for those readers that don’t follow this sort of stuff or haven’t been paying attention may be in order. To put it briefly, Mitac is a Taiwanese electronics maker that has had much success with the Mio brand in Asia and Europe, but has been fair-to-middlin’ in North America, which is dominated by the likes of Garmin and Magellan that have the name recognition and home field advantage, not to mention TomTom. It’s also had to contend with the multitude of other not-well-known name brands that have jumped into the PND market the last few years, some of which have come and gone.

So some have speculated Mitac would give up on Mio in North America, and concentrate on Magellan, although Mitac has said that isn’t the case. It looks like — and I’m just speculating here — that it might try and retain Mio as a budget brand in North America, while it concentrates on the mid-tier and high-end markets with Magellan. This would make sense, because while Magellan has had its corporate trials and tribulations over the years, it still makes decent devices and has that invaluable brand name recognition.

Of course, it may just be these products were already in the pipeline before the Magellan merger came about. But if we look at the three Magellan RoadMates introduced earlier this month, those devices range in price from $179 to $299, all of which incorporate features that have trickled down from its premium Maestro line. I’d hazard a guess the pricing isn’t a coincidence. That reminds me, I’ve been talking to the PR folks at Magellan; I should soon have one of these new RoadMates in my nerdy little hands for a time to test and review; keep an eye out for that.

Anyway, I think Mio still has a chance as a brand to survive in the budget niche. There has been a lot of fly-by-night entries in the PND market over the last few years — some good, some bad — as GPS technology has become commoditized to a certain degree, so it would be nice to see a reputable brand in this niche.

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