Garmin's Nuvifone

Garmin Ltd. reported rosy jumps in sales in its various sectors — automotive, outdoor, aviation, marine — but its earnings and outlook disappointed analysts, sending the company’s stock tumbling more than 19% to a new, 52-week low.

Oh, and, remember Garmin’s celebrated leap into mobile phones?

“The Nuvifone will not be available in fourth quarter, as previously announced,” the company revealed in its earnings release. “While we had hoped to have carrier launches in the fourth quarter, we have found that meeting some of the carrier-specific requirements will take longer than anticipated.”

The damaging upshot: a reference to launch in “the first half of 2009,” a delay of potentially one to two quarters and a full miss on the critical holiday-related, consumer spending binge.

The company’s opaque language did not reveal whether the problem was with carrier’s software customization requirements (an expensive, time-consuming though well-known aspect of getting a device onto a carrier’s shelves) or whether network testing (another hurdle well-known to all who ply these waters) was the culprit.

The company’s apparent failure to anticipate the wireless industry’s basic processes, however, seemed to displease investors who have seen Apple Inc., for instance, successfully enter the industry from the computer business. (Yes, with glitches, but not delays of some six months.)

Garmin announced its phone effort in January.

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