White Noise News

Barclays Capital Equity Research issued a note to clients Thursday, discussing Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) recent decision to offer Ovi Maps for free on its smartphones and the implications it has on shares of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN). barcap Wireless Equipment analyst Amir Rozwadowski said that while they don’t expect any near-term impact from Nokia’s announcement, the decision may add to ongoing concerns surrounding the long-term value proposition of pnds as navigation solutions are increasingly available on smartphones. Rozwadowski said in contrast to Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) free map service, Nokia’s map content will actually sit on the device, providing more PND-like experience in Barclays’ view. Citigroup sees this as the first major vendor to provide the actual underlying mapping data for free on the device. Amir Rozwadowski concluded, “However, the decision may add to ongoing concerns on the long-term value proposition of purpose built nav devices as services and content increasingly become available on smartphones.” Barclays Capital Equity Research maintained its Equal Weight rating on shares of Garmin and its target price of .