Worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales were up 13 percent in the first quarter, according to the Aircraft Electronics Association‘s first-quarter 2018 Avionics Market Report.
In the first three months of the year, total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales amounted to more than $639 million as reported by the participating companies.
The figure represents a 13% increase in total sales compared to the first-quarter 2017 amount of more than $566 million.
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. It does not include repairs and overhauls, extended warranty or subscription services.
Of the more than $639 million in first-quarter 2018 sales, 56.8% came from the retrofit market (avionics equipment installed after original production), while forward-fit sales (avionics equipment installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) amounted to 43.2% of first-quarter sales.
According to the companies that separated their total sales figures, 76.1% of the first-quarter sales occurred in North America (U.S. and Canada), while 23.9% took place in other international markets.
“The report shows that industry saw a significant increase in sales in both the retrofit and forward-fit markets to begin the year, a positive indicator for the overall health of the industry,” said AEA President Paula Derks. “This first-quarter report also comes on the heels of the 2017 year-end report that showed the retrofit market up 20% in sales from the previous year. It appears that avionics sales growth has continued into the first three months of 2018.”
The companies currently participating in the report include:
- ACR Artex
- ALTO Aviation
- Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp.
- Appareo
- Aspen Avionics
- BendixKing
- Blue Avionics
- Cobham Aerospace Communications
- FreeFlight System
- Garmin
- Genesys Aerosystems
- Gogo Business Aviation
- Honeywell Business & General Aviation
- Jupiter Avionics
- Latitude Technologies
- L3 Aviation Products
- Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
- PS Engineering
- Rockwell Collins
- Sandia Aerospace
- Shadin Avionics
- Trig Avionics
- uAvionix
- 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. This may occur due to mergers and acquisitions during the year along with new companies participating in the reporting process. Any comparative analysis of the data should take this variance into consideration, AEA officials note.