By making an insanely large late bid for Tele-Atlas , Garmin has shown their hand.

They are telling the big institutions that they are desperate for the digital mapmaking relationships and are willing to pay up to keep them. With Navteq (NVT) now gone to Nokia, obviously Garmin (GRMN) management felt that they were vulnerable.

I am not buying today’s weakness in Garmin’s stock like I did a few weeks ago when it was below $100.

This is a battle that is going to be bloody. The spoils are gigantic. If Nokia gets Navteq, I will probably be a buyer of Nokia.

Disclosure – Long Garmin and Navteq