In 1989, Gary Burrell and Dr. Min Kao formed the Garmin company (presumably, "Garmin" combines the "Gar" from "Gary" with Dr. Kao’s first name). At the dawn of GPS technology, these men envisioned a wide range of products that would help consumers, pilots, mariners, and industry professionals navigate the globe.
In only a few short years, Garmin has become a leader in the aviation and consumer GPS market, designing and manufacturing a wide range of GPS, communication, and sonar products.
The Products
The first device manufactured by Garmin was the GPS100AVD, introduced in January 1991. Now, more than 50 products are carried by the company. These include all-in-one aviation systems for pilots, portable in-car navigation systems for finding street addresses, marine products for charting a course or finding fish, and feature-packed, pocket-sized GPS receivers for outdoor adventurers.The most popular Garmin products are the rugged and featured-packed GPSMAP series and the smaller, more economical, eTrex series. All have Garmin’s mark of quality and innovation. The newest of these is the GPSMAP 96 and 96C.
The most revolutionary products from Garmin are the iQue models. These units combine GPS receivers with the convenience of a PDA (personal digital assistant). This means the same device that provides navigation and mapping capabilities also allows users to read books, play music, and keep address and calendar information.
The result is a multi-use companion for the road warrior, vacationer, or day traveler. The iQue 3600 is based on Palm OS, iQue M5 is Windows Mobile 2003 SE based, and the new iQue 3600a is a Palm powered tool specifically made for aviation use. Garmin also carries a wide range of mapping software to work with all of these units.
The Company Motto
Garmin’s commitment is to develop and support products that help people in both their professional and leisure lives. Their stated mission is to turn complicated technology into useful products. To accomplish this, the company pays close attention to their customers’ feedback, which helps them create products that better fit consumer needs.Apparently, this strategy has worked well; to date, more than 5 million Garmin units have been sold worldwide and the most recent news releases indicate record revenue and earnings for the last quarter.
The Garmin company has received a number of industry awards for their product and design innovation. For example, the company announced January 26th 2005 that it will be honored for pioneering work on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) avionics for the Air Transport and General Aviation market segments.
Headquartered in Olathe, Kansas, Garmin has additional offices in Europe and Asia. Almost 2,500 dealers, distributors, and corporate partners provide Garmin sales and services worldwide. Detailed information about the company and all of their products may be found at Garmin’s web site (www.garmin.com).