Avionics sales near $2 billion for year

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — In  July, August and September, total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales amounted to $614,406,537.56 according to the most recent Avionics Market Report released by the Aircraft Electronics Association. For the first nine months of the year, sales total $1,918,282,585.36.

The third quarter figure represents a 5% decrease in sales compared to the third-quarter 2013 amount of $646,888,397.14 as reported a year ago by the participating companies.

Despite the third quarter indicating a slowdown in sales compared to the first and second quarters of 2014, this year’s sales are up 2.7% compared to the first nine months of 2013, which totaled $1,868,096,452.12.

“While it is disappointing to see the third-quarter sales drop slightly compared to the first half of the year, the industry has experienced modest year-over-year growth in sales compared to the first nine months of 2013,” said Paula Derks, AEA president. “The report is only in its second year of quarterly reporting, so it’s difficult to draw any conclusions on seasonality of sales just yet; however, this will be worth watching in future years.”

The dollar amount reported (using net sales price, not manufacturer’s suggested retail price) includes: all business and general aviation aircraft electronic sales — including all component and accessories in cockpit/cabin/software upgrades/portables/certified and noncertified aircraft electronics; all hardware (tip to tail); batteries; and chargeable product upgrades from the participating manufacturers. The amount does not include repairs and overhauls, extended warranty or subscription services.

Of the more than $614 million in total sales in the third quarter, $323,685,864.93 came from forward-fit (avionics equipment installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) sales and comprised 52.7% of total sales. Retrofit (avionics equipment installed after original production) sales amounted to $290,720,672.63 comprising 47.3% of total sales.

According to the companies that separated their total sales figures between North America (U.S. and Canada) and other international markets, 63.4% of the sales volume occurred in North America (U.S. and Canada), while 36.6% took place in other international markets.

To ensure confidentiality, the participating manufacturing companies submit their sales figures to an independent third-party accounting firm retained to produce the AEA Avionics Market Report. The companies participating in the report include:

• Accord Technology
• Alto Aviation
• Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp.
• Aspen Avionics
• BendixKing
• Cool City Avionics
• FreeFlight Systems
• Garmin
• Genesys Aerosystems
• Gogo Business Aviation
• Honeywell Business & General Aviation
• ICG
• Jupiter Avionics
• Latitude Technologies
• L-3 Aviation Products
• Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
• PS Engineering
• Rockwell Collins
• Sandia Aerospace
• Shadin Avionics
• Trig Avionics
• Universal Avionics Systems Corp.

The number of companies that participate in the AEA Avionics Market Report may change on a quarterly and/or annual basis, and any comparative analysis of the data should take this into consideration, AEA officials noted.