Garmin

Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American multinational technology company founded by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in 1989 in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquarters located in Olathe, Kansas. Since 2010, the company is incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland

The company specializes in GPS technology for automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sport activities. Due to their development in wearable technology, they have also been competing with activity tracker and smartwatch consumer developers such as Fitbit and Apple.

In 1983, Gary Burrell recruited Min H. Kao from the defense contractor Magnavox while working for the former King Radio. They founded Garmin in 1989 in Lenexa, Kansas, as “ProNav”. ProNav’s first product was a GPS unit which sold for US$2,500. The company was later renamed “Garmin”, a portmanteau of its two founders, Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao. In 1991, the U.S. Army became their first customer.

By 1995, It’s sales had reached $105 million, and it had achieved a profit of $23 million. By 1999, sales had reached $233 million and a profit of $64 million. It reported a 2006 total revenue of $1.77 billion, up 73% from $1.03 billion in 2005.