Garmin 2001 Annual Report Download - page 8

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Garmin is committed to developing innovative products that help people
navigate and communicate anywhere in the world. Our customers lead
active lives, and they rely on Garmin products to help them get where they
need to go. Their dedication to the Garmin brand, along with our drive
to turn out high quality products, has allowed Garmin to become a leader
in the general aviation and consumer GPS markets.
Through our operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, we design,
manufacture and market navigation, communication and information devices.
Many of our products are enabled by GPS (Global Positioning System)
technology, which uses satellites to locate a user’s position, display it on
an electronic map and provide guidance to any other location on earth.
Garmin has approximately 2,500 dealers and distributors in locations
around the world.
2001: A year of growth
Garmin experienced its eleventh consecutive year of revenue growth in fiscal
year 2001. Revenues in the consumer segment were up 14 percent despite
a challenging economic environment. Although aviation revenues were
down 9 percent, we maintained a leadership position in an industry hit
hard by the aftermath of September 11. Total units sold across all Garmin
product categories grew to 1,331,000 — an increase of 9 percent over
fiscal year 2000. In addition, we continued to grow our product line and
expand our distribution channels, while adding people and facilities to cover
the increased demand for
Garmin products.
Expanding our product line
Garmin launched a record 25 new products in 2001, which was more than
in the previous two years combined. In the second quarter of 2001, Garmin
unveiled its new line of marine products especially suited for offshore appli-
cations. The new chartplotters in this group offer enhanced cartography,
faster processors for quicker map redraws, higher resolution screens and
WAAS-enabled GPS receivers for better accuracy. In addition, several of the
plotters are available with sunlight-readable color screens and large displays
for the higher-end boat market. We also introduced our own marine car-
tography, BlueChart™, to complement the new chartplotter line. BlueChart
integrates with Garmin chartplotters to offer detail approaching that of
paper nautical charts in electronic form. The development of BlueChart was
a large undertaking that involved the resources of many of our cartogra-
phers and map technicians working for over a year to integrate map data
from sources around the world. Customer sales activity is off to a promising
start in 2002 as our new lineup of chartplotters and marine cartography
enters its first full season.
The introduction of the StreetPilot®III positioned Garmin to compete with
more expensive, in-dash systems for automotive applications. This portable
GPS with detailed mapping offers automatic routing and voice guidance to
selected street addresses or points of interest. The portable design makes
the StreetPilot III useful for all car owners, new or used. The GPS V blends
many of the features of our popular GPS III series with some of the
StreetPilot III attributes, enabling us to provide mapping with automatic
turn-by-turn routing at an even lower price point.
7
GPSMAP®2010C color chartplotter
with BlueChart cartography