Is Magellan Getting Ready to Swallow Mio?

The two brothers under the same parent company may soon be one, and contrary to prior rumors, Magellan could be the name left standing.

As you may recall, one of the biggest names in GPS seemed to be on the rocks around CES time this year, since Mio’s parent company Mitec snapped Magellan up in December. And with the umbrella company already having merged the European Navman brand into its homegrown Mio brand, it looked as if Magellan might be assimilated the same way.

Not so, says Raphel Finelli, Magellan’s senior manager of public relations. We caught with him at Magellan’s MobileFocus booth on Wednesday night, and got the details on its mysterious position following the merger. According to Finelli, Magellan is still alive and kicking under Mitec, and if anything, it’s Mio that will be merged into it.

Given the weight and standing of Magellan’s name, that would actually make more sense – and the company has product to show for it. It kicked out its first new units since the merger at CTIA: three new RoadMate units that trickle down features from its more expensive Maestro line. And although they’re manufactured by Mitec, Finelli claims that none of the software inside has been borrowed from Mio.

So unlike the 16^th Century explorer it derives its name from, Magellan will keep on sailing. For now.