Engineered on the inside for life on the outside.
Garmin was founded in 1989 with headquarters located in the United States. Garmin first set foot in the aviation industry with its cutting-edge GPS navigation products almost three decades ago. Since then, Garmin's product lines have expanded to fully cover the aviation, marine, and automotive industries. Today, Garmin is the renowned leader in the aviation, marine, automotive, outdoor, and fitness markets. Built on a healthy product ecosystem, and combining awe-inspiring designs, impeccable quality, and superior reliability into excellent user experiences, Garmin strives to become the number one brand for all who enjoy their lives.
Garmin Story Video
To be an enduring company by creating superior products for automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sports that are an essential part of our customers’ lives.
We will be the global leader in every market we serve, and our products will be sought after for their compelling design, superior quality, and best value.
The foundation of our culture is honesty, integrity, and respect for associates, customers, and business partners. Each associate is fully committed to serving customers and fellow associates through outstanding performance and accomplishing what we say we will do.
Garmin was co-founded in 1989 by the then electrical engineers, Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao. Gary was born in Kansas, and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Min was born in Zhushan, Taiwan, and earned a doctorate in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee.
The pair came into contact with the then highly classified satellite positioning technology while working for their former employer on a project for the US Department of Defense.
Their ideal was to "popularize GPS and change the world," but this was in conflict with their former employer, who was cutting R&D budget. Hence their decision to start their own business. The company, and indeed its name Garmin, was put together by the two founders—Gary and Min.
Garmin started out by integrating cockpit navigation devices into an all-in-one design, which became immensely popular. The GPS technology was then gradually expanded, eventually into wearable products today, broadening the market into aviation, marine, automotive, outdoor, and fitness.
Garmin's business philosophy of valuing the fundamentals and "tackling the hardest jobs first" have carried the company through all kinds of challenges over the 30 years, and the business model of "vertical integration" resulted in extremely high customer satisfaction.
Acquisition of leading audio solution company JL Audio, strengthening our marine entertainment product portfolio
Garmin Response Center (formerly known as IERCC) has accumulated 10,000 SOS outdoor rescue records
Set up Thailand and Vietnam office and an advanced manufacturing plant in Poland and Taiwan.
Garmin introduced proprietary solar charging technology that redefined the possibilities for smart wearable devices' battery life.
As Garmin entered its 30th year, we launched our flagship range of smart tool watches: the MARQ Collection.
Introduced the first professional dive watch Descent® Mk1, officially stepping into the dive watch market.
Named Manufacturer of the Year by the NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) for the third consecutive year, and won 8 Product of Excellent Awards.
Released vívomove®, the smartwatch with analog hands, opening the door to the hybrid smartwatch market.
Launched Forerunner 225®, Garmin's first running watch with wrist-based heart rate monitor.
Released Connect IQ, Garmin's open platform for third-party apps.
Became the provider of in-dash navigation system for Mercedes-Benz.
Co-founder Dr. Min H. Kao was elected to National Academy of Engineering.
Clifton A. Pemble was appointed president and chief operating officer.
Unveiled the historic Forerunner™ 201, the world's first wrist-based GPS trainer.
Launched StreetPilot® III, the world’s first portable navigation product with voice prompts.
The US government opened GPS data to the public, greatly improving the precision of GPS positioning for civilians.
Released NavTalk®, the world’s first GPS-integrated cellular phone.
Introduced GPS 95, the world’s first portable GPS unit for aviation.
Garmin outsources nothing. From a product's design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, to servicing, everything is done in-house. This creates a big advantage for Garmin. Direct communications between R&D and manufacturing gives Garmin full control over the materials and parts used, and keeps the manufacturing processes optimized.
In-house mechanical engineering eliminated interferences between devices, and allowed for higher-capacity batteries without sacrificing the slimness of the products.
By integrating accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer, Garmin devices are able to detect the precise direction and angle of movement, and tracks floors ascended/descended, or the types of activities taken, greatly enhancing the precision of GPS positioning.
Garmin products can be seen all around the world.
Our commitment to vertical integration is the open secret that keeps us making incredible products, and our customers satisfied.
Locations worldwide
89
Employees worldwide
> 21000
