Yahoo Finance TomTom angers customers by scrapping updates for 66 sat-nav models
TomTom is to stop updating maps on a raft of its sat-nav models, sparking anger among customers.
It says active subscriptions to map updates will continue until subscriptions run out, but after that, customers will not be able to renew maps or receive new software updates.
The company warned: “Your maps will become out-of-date and as such navigation will be less accurate.
“It has become clear that some of our older generation navigation devices do not have sufficient resources to run the newest maps and software.” At least 66 models are affected.
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Many users have complained on social media that its boasts of “lifetime” updates means little.
My @TomTom device bought in July 2016 with ‘lifetime’ maps is on the list of devices no longer to be supported and they’ve got the cheek to try and get me to buy a newer one. No thanks! #TomTom
— John McGowan (@johnamcgowan) January 30, 2018
TomTom also says on its website that people could always choose a newer model that will continue to receive regular updates.
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On its website, TomTom says that “lifetime” means the “useful life” of a device: “ie: the period of time TomTom supports your device with updates, services, content or accessories. A device will have reached the end of its life when none of these are available any more.”
The move has echoes of Apple admitting it slows older iPhones in an effort, it says, to preserve battery life.
The tech giant is now being sued in France for allegedly building in deliberate obsolescence
Sat-navs boomed in the early 2000s but have since been overtaken by developments in mobile phone apps which offer similar satellite map technology and carmakers that produce models with in-built sat-navs.
MORE: Apple admits slowing down older iPhones to protect batteries
Analyst Chris Jones at Canalys said: “Clearly, they’ve identified a business market for future growth – that includes navigation and traffic services integrated into cars.
“Within months, the [sat-navs] will quickly become out-of-date when those updates stop appearing.”
A full list of the TomTom products affected by the move can be found here.
