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http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Garmin-Ltd-Company-History.html
Key Dates:
1990: Garmin Corporation is formed in Taiwan.
1991: The company's first product, GPS 100AVD, debuts.
1996: Garmin moves to new headquarters building.
1997: GPS III, Garmin's first automotive product, is introduced.
1998: StreetPilot, an auto navigation product, is introduced.
2000: The company goes public, and Garmin Ltd. is formed.
2003: Palm OS-based iQue 3600 is unveiled.Aviation products accounted
for 20 percent of revenues. Garmin continued to bring forth
innovations, combining several flight instruments in its integrated
avionics systems, which were selected for use in Cessna Aircraft Co.
business jets and piston-engine aircraft from Diamond Aircraft Co.
Garmin International acquired UPS Aviation Technologies, Inc. from
United Parcel Service, Inc. in August 2003 for $38 million. The unit,
which employed 150 people producing general aviation and air cargo
products, was renamed Garmin AT, Inc.
A mandate from the FCC for mobile phone companies to offer enhanced
911 service to help dispatchers locate callers--along with penetration
of GPS technology into new fields, such as golf--suggested the market
for GPS-related devices was still relatively untapped. The Kansas
facility was slated for another expansion to be completed in 2004.
Company History:
Garmin Ltd. is a leader in Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation
products. Once found mostly in specialized equipment for aircraft and
boats, GPS technology has been adapted for use in a variety of
handheld and wristwatch units for users such as hikers, athletes,
sportsmen, and automobile drivers. Garmin has sold five million units
in its first dozen years. Its product line has proliferated into 50
different items marketed through a network of 2,500 dealers,
distributors, and partners in 100 countries around the world. While
the parent company is registered in the Cayman Islands, Garmin has
manufacturing and sales operations in the United States (Kansas) and
Taiwan and a marketing office in the United Kingdom.
Origins
The U.S. Department of Defense began developing the Global Positioning
System (GPS) in the mid-1970s, eventually spending $15 billion to put
two dozen satellites into orbit. GPS receivers could determine their
coordinates by comparing signals from different satellites. Like the
first computers, the first commercially available GPS units were large
and expensive, costing up to $10,000.
Garmin Corporation was formed in Taiwan in January 1990 by two
electrical engineers, Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao. (The company's
name is derived from the first names of the founders.) Burrell and Kao
had been employed by Kansas-based King Radio Corporation, a maker of
radios and aircraft navigation equipment, which was acquired by Allied
Corp. (later Allied Signal) in 1985. Burrell displayed in interest in
integration early on and is credited with designing the first
combination navigation/communications radio for general aviation while
at King Radio.
Garmin introduced its first product, the GPS 100AVD, in January 1991.
Aimed at boaters and pilots of small planes, it was about the size of
a paperback book and sold for about $1,000. By 1992, GPS devices were
a $100 million-a-year market.
Garmin subsequently introduced another GPS unit for pilots called the
GPS 95. This one, which sold for $1,795, incorporated a display of the
plane's position on a moving map, as well as nearby airports and radio
beacons. It could also backup the aircraft's built-in instrumentation
with groundspeed, heading, and altitude readings.
Sales reached $102 million in 1995, producing net income of $23
million. Garmin International, the U.S. unit, moved to a new $8
million, 100,000-square-foot headquarters in early 1996. Its offices
had previously been housed in four separate buildings.
Locating Drivers in the Late 1990s
Garmin turned its attention to the automotive market in the late 1990s
with two hand-held units. GPS III, introduced in late 1997,
incorporated a map of major roads in the Americas. This device
displayed the position of the driver and destination on the map.
Garmin brought out the StreetPilot in March 1998. It retailed for $700
and replaced more detailed mapping programs requiring a laptop computer.
Garmin's next project was a waterproof mobile phone with a GPS
receiver and map display built in called NavTalk. The company also
expanded beyond GPS products in its aviation-related products,
introducing a Mode C transponder (a device for communicating a plane's
position to air traffic controllers) and an intercom. Sales were
$232.6 million in 1999. The company soon doubled the size of its
Kansas plant to 240,000 square feet. It also had manufacturing
operations in Taiwan and a sales office in England.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Senger" <asenger@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 9:42 AM
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