Navman outsources satnav hardware to US vendor

CalAmp sets up R&D shop in NZ

US based wireless gear provider CalAmp will establish an R&D center in Auckland, New Zealand, following a US$25 million supply deal with Navman Wireless.

The five-year supply agreement will see CalAmp provide the New Zealand company with around $25 million of fleet tracking products.

Under the deal, CalAmp also acquired $6 million in products and technologies from Navman Wireless which will provide the foundation of R&D activities. The transaction figure includes licencing fees.

The assets acquired by CalAmp include technology for Mobile Display Terminals (MDT) and an MDT product line currently marketed to telematics OEMs globally.

The deal will also enable CalAmp to expand into the Asian Pacific, Western Europe and South America, where Navman has a strong customer base, the company said.

Navman is retaining its 60 staff in New Zealand which cover R & D, sales, marketing and support.

A team of 14 Navman staff will move to the new CalAmp R&D centre and Navman is also boosting the size of its R & D team in California.

Navman Wireless said that partnering with CalAmp as its hardware partner would allow the company to re-deploy its internal assets, optimizing both software and hardware development.

"We can now dedicate all of our resources to delivering next-generation fleet and asset management tools through our OnlineAVL2 platform, while CalAmp's R&D team can apply their expertise to designing complementary next-generation hardware products," said TJ Chung, President and CEO of Navman Wireless.®