Garmin Connect + FREE

God forbid!

WEGleport said:

Garmin has said public/ users feedback has been positive and supportive, also future new features will be behind this pay wall. 

Link please.

bluefish said:

WEGleport said:

Garmin has said public/ users feedback has been positive and supportive, also future new features will be behind this pay wall. 

Link please.

I'm gonna guess that this was sourced from a certain blogger who posts Garmin rumours, and also puts their own spin on certain things which are public knowledge.

I think the primary source (which was not linked by the blogger btw) is the Q & A portion of the Garmin 2025 Q1 earnings call:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4779936-garmin-ltd-grmn-q1-2025-earnings-call-transcript

(Garmin's official transcript excludes the Q & A section, which is why I didn't link to a Garmin source)

Joseph Cardoso

No. Got it. That's great to hear. And then maybe switching away from tariffs, it was great to see the release of Connect+. But I guess, Cliff, why now in past discussions, at least anecdotally, there appear to be some reservations about finding the right value to essentially end up charging your customers.

So I guess, what capabilities or what developments prompted you to kind of launch this at this time. And then, obviously, early days, but curious if you can provide any initial indications around customer reception, interaction with Connect+ that might be indicative of increasing appetite to use the app, et cetera. Just curious if there's anything you can share on that front as well.

Cliff Pemble

Yes. I think we've been saying for a while that, that we are evaluating opportunities to have a premium offering on Garmin Connect. And I think the developments of AI and particularly around AI-based insights for our users was one of those things that we felt was important to recognize the value for the investment that it takes to do.

And so we felt like it was the right time, and we do have a very strong user base. Connect+ it certainly doesn't -- isn't required for users, and we're not taking any features away from people that they've had and we still have a strong commitment to develop Garmin Connect and our devices with broad features that are available to everyone.

The certain ones, we will likely reserve for premium offerings and so far, the response has been positive. We're not measuring success in terms of the short-term. This is a long-term thing for us, a very important part of our Fitness segment going forward. So we're going to build on where we started.

Notes:

- Cliff Pemble is the CEO of Garmin

- the blogger in question interpreted "The certain ones, we will likely reserve for premium offerings" as confirmation that new, "potentially advanced" features will be limited to Connect+

- not even the blogger thinks that ALL new features will locked to Connect+

WEGleport said:

Have you seen their reply to the public response to connect +, I have not seen anywhere posting a positive review about connect + and yet Garmin has said public/ users feedback has been positive and supportive,

Uh, the context is a quarterly earnings conference call for investors. They are not gonna tell their investors that Connect+ is an abject failure and everyone hates it.

FlowState said:

so far, the response has been positive. We're not measuring success in terms of the short-term. This is a long-term thing for us, a very important part of our Fitness segment going forward.

Is Garmin's CEO some agent of another tech company trying to destroy Garmin from the inside or what? I understand the need to stretch the data for investors, but this guy probably lives in a different reality.

Neither the additional premium subscription was received positively by users, nor does it look like it will be a good move in the long terms.

I haven't seen a single positive review of Connect+, because why would users speak positively about this idea.

"Buy the most expensive watch on the market and pay for a subscription on top of that" - who in their right mind would speak positively about this?

It's completely normal behavior. Corporations create reality to convince stakeholders and clients to their vision and spreadsheets. It doesn't matter if it's true as long as they reach their goal in long-term. You are just a number in their reports and your role is to spend more money. Buying new products is not enough nowadays. You have to pay for subscriptions, cloud services, AI or other bs. If they succeed you will pay more and more for the same quality you had before. 

Sad but true. We pay more for services that get worse. As the rate of profit decreases, companies have to scramble to find more ways to nickel and dime us. Look at how AI is being shoved into every single product, whether users want it or not.

I really feel like Garmin couldn't stay with their old business model of releasing watches that are good for 10+ years tho.

I know a lot of really good runners (e.g. guys who can win their age group or win a 5 miler race outright) who kept their FR235-era Garmin for 10 years and only recently got a new watch in the last couple of years.

I have a feeling that in 2035, there won't be a whole lot of runners who still wear a 10 year old Garmin.