Here’s a little background on Garmin, given the company’s announcement that it plans to purchase JL Audio.
Like JL Audio, Garmin is in the marine audio market. And Garmin is also a tier 1 supplier of OEM infotainment to car companies.
Garmin owns the Fusion aftermarket marine audio brand, which it purchased in 2014. Fusion supplies aftermarket marine audio radios, speakers, amplifiers and more.
Garmin also supplies marine fishfinders, chartplotters and other marine electronics. Garmin notes that some of its chartplotters are compatible with JL Audio marine audio devices as posted in the Garmin support center.
Regarding OEM car audio, Garmin produces infotainment displays and control platforms for “premium audio and multimedia, navigation, cameras, smartphone links, customized voice recognition and personal assistants, rear-seat entertainment instrument clusters and more.”
Its OEM partners include the BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, PSA/Citroen, Geely, Honda Motorcycle, BMW Motorrad, BRP, Aston Martin and Yamaha.
Garmin posted $4.9 billion in revenue last year. It spends $835 million a year on R&D and it owns 1,800 patents. It has 19,700 “associates” (employees).
Garmin produces products in five sectors–the Fitness sector (such as fitness watches), Outdoor products such as the inReach satellite communicator and, of course, personal navigation devices; plus Aviation, Marine, and Automotive OEM products.
Garmin’s fish finders can range from $120 to $12,000. It also produces surround view cameras for boats that help with docking. And it owns the Navionics brand for marine mapping.
As far as Garmin’s news on its intent to purchase JL Audio, it gave rise to much industry speculation, but we will just say that most industry members were surprised by the announcement.
Garmin states on its website, “Our mission inspires us to be an enduring company by creating superior products that are an essential part of our customers’ lives. “
