The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) has just released their Q2 2016 Avionics Market Report. Based off the information supplied by participating companies, the report shows that for the first six months of the year, total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales have reached more than $1.1 billion dollars. However, like GAMA’s recent Q2 numbers for aircraft sales, the AEA report also shows an overall decline in sales.
Further Details on the AEA Report on Avionics Sales
According to AEA, the reported dollar amounts cover all business and general aviation avionics sales.
This includes “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.” However, the figures in the report do not reflect repairs, overhauls, and extended warranty or subscription services.
The report further splits the numbers into two categories, forward-fit (avionics equipment installed by the aircraft manufacturer during the initial aircraft build) and retrofit (avionics equipment installed after the aircraft was built).
Forward-fit accounted for 54.3% of the sales, while retrofit accounted for 45.7% of the sales.
| Quarter |
Retrofit
|
Forward-fit
|
Total Sales
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Q 2016 | $256,462,826.30 | $309,635,879.66 | $566,098,705.96 |
| 2Q 2016 | $253,257,536.12 | $295,903,718.11 | $549,161,254.23 |
| YTD 2016 | $509,720,362.42 | $605,539,597.77 | $1,115,259,960.19 |
These numbers represent an overall decrease of 6.5% in avionics sales compared to the same period in 2015.
The report also reveals that 66.8% percent of total avionics sales were for the North American (US and Canada) market. The remaining 33.2% of sales were spread over other international markets.
AEA Comments on the Report
Regarding the report, AEA President Paula Derks had this to say, “With so many new and innovative avionics products introduced to the general aviation market in the first half of the year, it is disappointing to see decreasing sales figures compared to the first six months of 2015, particularly in the retrofit market.” She went on to say that the decline in sales is somewhat of a surprise, given that they’ve been seeing an uptick in the pace of the equipage of ADS-B compliant avionics.
Derks added, “It will be interesting to see future sales reports following the recent AirVenture Oshkosh event that brought even more avionics products to market, along with the FAA’s ADS-B Rebate program expected to begin later this year.”
Reading the Full AEA Report
The first AEA report was released in 2013, with the aim of providing “valuable information to promote the business and general aviation avionics industry.” Companies such as Garmin, FreeFlight Systems, Aspen Avionics, BendixKing and any more participate in the report. For more details, and to read the full report, you can visit the AEA website.
Featured Images: Dmitry Sumin, CC2
