Many Applications

Depending on where you’re coming from, the company Garmin may give you different impressions. I first heard about this company because of running. They have a line of watches that not only monitor your heart rate, but also your speed and distance travelled through the use of GPS.

So I was under the impression that this must have been a watch company that had become more sophisticated and was now using GPS. In fact, some of their great watches feature a digital running man which lets you know if you are running at the pace you planned and can tell you if you’re falling behind or running too fast ahead.

After a bit of research, I found out that the company’s main line of business really has to do with producing products with GPS applications. I initially thought Garmin was an acronym for something sophisticated only to find out that it stood for the first names of the company founders Gary Burrell and Min Kao; but the products they produce, though customer friendly have sophisticated technology behind them.

Garmin started out with a marine product and then moved into handheld GPS devices which were heavily used by the military industry.  From then on, the company has been producing many products with GPS applications. Created in 1989, the company continues to grow. Annual sales in 2010 stood at $2.7 billion.

Combining GPS and mapping is so useful. The most important thing is you know where you are, or in other words you won’t get lost.  It gives you the capability to track yourself or track others be they persons, bicycles, cars, boats, or airplanes.

The applications for GPS just keep on growing, Garmin even has products with GPS applications for golf!  By offering more products for general public use, this company will become more recognizable, and it looks like it will continue its growth.

This company was able to take advantage of a technology (GPS) that is free for civilian use and turned it into a multi-billion dollar business.