Garmin
Consumer and aviation electronics · Switzerland
Garmin designs and makes GPS-based devices for five markets: fitness and outdoor watches, aviation flight decks, marine electronics and in-car computers for carmakers, building most of them in its own factories in Taiwan.
What makes it different
It spends about a sixth of sales on engineering.
16%R&D ratioFY2025
Over $1.1 billion a year of R&D keeps it ahead in specialist niches from dive computers to glass cockpits.
How big it is
How big is Garmin?
$7.2BNet salesFY2025
20.7MUnits soldFY2025
23,000Employees2025
How it makes money FY2025
Five markets, led by fitness and outdoor.
- Fitness33%$2.4B
- Outdoor28%$2.1B
- Marine16%$1.2B
- Aviation14%$987M
- Auto OEM9%$665M
How the business works
Design, make and sell niche GPS devices.
- 1Sensors and GPS in-house
- 2In own Taiwan factories
- 3Into five enthusiast markets
Owning the factories lets Garmin profit from small-volume niches like dive computers and flight decks.
Who owns it
- Min H. Kao (co-founder) and related holdings9.7%
- BlackRock, Inc.8%
- Jonathan Burrell (director, son of co-founder Gary Burrell)5%
CEO: Clifton A. Pemble
Who it competes with
Key moments
- 1989Gary Burrell and Min Kao found Garmin
- 1990First factory in Taiwan
- 1991First product: GPS 100
- 2000IPO on Nasdaq
- 2003Forerunner 201, first GPS running watch
Sources
Every number on this page comes from Garmin's own reports.
Full profile
The rest of the story is in the app.
What Garmin tracks14 metrics
Units sold
Employees
Patents issued
Results, quarter by quarterwith a chart
Revenue
Profit
Margin
Where the money comes from3 regions
Americas
EMEA
Asia Pacific
The full timeline17 moments
2020
2021
2025
Garmin vs Appleside by side
Revenue
Profit
People
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