Worldwide avionics sales topped $2.7 billion in 2018, up 17.3% from the previous year.
Of the more than $2.7 billion in sales in 2018, 57% 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% of sales, according to the Aircraft Electronics Association’s Year-End Avionics Market Report.
“With more than $2.7 billion in worldwide sales, industry has recorded the largest dollar amount of year-end avionics sales since the reporting process began back in 2012,” said AEA President Paula Derks. “We have now seen eight-straight quarters of positive year-over-year sales growth dating back to the end of 2016.”
Many of those sales, no doubt, are spurred by the FAA’s Jan. 1, 2020, mandate, which requires ADS-B Out in all aircraft operating in airspace that now requires a Mode C transponder.
According to the companies that separated their total sales figures between North America (U.S. and Canada) and other international markets, 77.7% of the 2018 sales occurred in North America, while 22.3% took place in other markets.
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.
AEA officials note that the 2018 year-end totals do not exactly equal the sum of the four quarterly amounts as reported earlier in the year. This variance is the result of seasonally adjusted year-end numbers by some of the participating companies.
Additionally, the number of companies that participate in the AEA Avionics Market Report may change on a quarterly 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 advise.
To ensure confidentiality, the participating manufacturing companies submit their sales figures to an independent third-party firm retained to produce the AEA Avionics Market Report. 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
- Collins Aerospace
- FreeFlight Systems
- Garmin
- Genesys Aerosystems
- Gogo Business Aviation
- Honeywell Business & General Aviation
- Jupiter Avionics
- Latitude Technologies
- L3 Commercial Aviation
- Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
- PS Engineering
- Sandia Aerospace
- Shadin Avionics
- Trig Avionics
- Universal Avionics