CompanyGraph
Garmin Ltd.
GRMN · NYSE Arca · Switzerland
Builds FAA-certified aviation navigators that keep working when GPS signals fail, using sensors calibrated individually at the factory.
Garmin builds FAA-certified aviation navigators — the GTN series — where the GPS receiver, inertial measurement unit, barometric altimeter, and sensor fusion algorithm are all certified together as a single system, so changing any one component means starting the FAA approval process over from scratch. On top of that, each physical unit is individually calibrated at the factory to account for the small differences between components, producing a performance profile unique to that device — and it is that calibrated profile that keeps the navigator accurate when satellite signals from NAVSTAR or GLONASS degrade. A competitor cannot shortcut this by licensing Garmin's algorithm or copying its parts list; it has to reproduce the calibrated manufacturing process and then carry that exact process through FAA certification independently, on the FAA's timeline, which capital alone cannot speed up. The risk that mirrors this strength is that if the FAA ever restructured its rules to let software be updated separately from hardware, the same co-certification process that locks competitors out would lock Garmin in, preventing it from updating its own systems without full recertification.
How does this company make money?
Most revenue comes from selling the devices themselves — GPS units, GTN series aviation navigators, and marine electronics with software built in. Garmin also charges ongoing subscription fees for premium features on Connect IQ and for updated marine charts. A third stream comes from licensing its navigation software and hardware modules to automotive manufacturers who build them into their own vehicles.
What makes this company hard to replace?
A pilot who wants to leave Garmin avionics has to go through FAA recertification for the replacement system and pay for retraining on a new interface — both cost real money and time. Fitness users on Garmin's Connect platform would lose their full history of activity data and the social connections they have built there, because that data does not transfer to a competitor's app. Boaters are tied in by physical hardware: switching away from Garmin sonar and radar means ripping out proprietary transducers and cabling and replacing them entirely.
What limits this company?
Every new product — whether a new aviation category the FAA regulates separately or a new marine chartplotter that needs chart licensing from NOAA or international hydrographic offices — requires the same scarce pool of engineers who do sensor calibration and algorithm tuning by hand. That work cannot be automated, so each expansion into a new product family or regulatory domain uses up the same limited engineering capacity before anything can ship.
What does this company depend on?
Garmin cannot operate without timing and positioning signals from the NAVSTAR, GLONASS, and Galileo satellite constellations. It relies on specialized motion sensors — MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes from suppliers like Bosch and STMicroelectronics — that go inside every navigator. FAA certification must be granted before any aviation product like a GTN series navigator can be installed in an aircraft. Marine products require chart licensing from NOAA and international hydrographic offices, and all radio-frequency devices must pass FCC Part 15 certification before they can be sold.
Who depends on this company?
Private pilots flying by instruments or by sight rely on GTN series avionics for navigation; if those units fail in flight, the primary navigation tool is gone. Recreational boaters using Garmin chartplotters in coastal water lose their main warning system for underwater obstacles when the device goes dark. Ultramarathon runners in remote areas who carry Garmin inReach devices lose their only way to send an emergency message if that device stops working.
How does this company scale?
Software features and map updates can be pushed across entire device families at almost no extra cost once they are built. But every new hardware platform still needs engineers to physically calibrate sensors and tune the algorithm for that specific design — work that cannot be handed to a machine — so the engineering team becomes the ceiling on how fast the product line can grow.
What external forces can significantly affect this company?
European GDPR rules restrict how Garmin can collect and store fitness and location data from users of its Connect platform. U.S.-China trade tensions put pressure on sourcing the semiconductor components that come from Asian suppliers. In regions where military actors are actively jamming or spoofing GPS signals, civilian devices — including Garmin's — can lose accuracy regardless of how well the hardware is built.
Where is this company structurally vulnerable?
If the FAA changed its rules to let avionics software be updated separately from the hardware it runs on, the same co-certification process that keeps competitors out would trap Garmin inside it. Garmin could not push updates to its own certified systems without restarting full recertification, turning its biggest structural advantage into a wall it cannot climb over.