No doubt many pilots have been asking themselves lately how Garmin has possibly managed to develop an integrated glass cockpit for the Cessna Citation Mustang business jet that will also fly aboard a variety of light piston singles. Can the avionics in a $2.3 million twinjet really be the cousin of an integrated avionics package that costs the same as the equipment it replaces in a Cessna Skylane? Or are the corporate bean-counters at Garmin using fuzzy math?
The answer has a lot to do with economies of scale and Garmin’s tremendous buying power in the consumer electronics and display industries. Last year the Olathe, Kan. company produced a dizzying two million individual products, spanning everything from handheld GPS receivers to car navigation equipment and even fish finders and personal digital assistants with integrated GPS cards. Building such a vast array of products meant Garmin first needed to purchase millions of circuit boards, computer chips and LCD screens. All came from suppliers that are thrilled to count the rapidly expanding avionics maker as a customer.
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