WhereIsAtlas · GPS

Garmin

The GPS company that outlasted the smartphone and became a wearable and navigation giant

Active — Still thriving: the GPS pioneer now crushes it in wearables, aviation, marine and fitness.

Garmin was founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao — the name is a portmanteau of their first names. The first commercial GPS units had been military; Garmin's job was to shrink them for civilians. It succeeded spectacularly, releasing handheld navigation devices and then the dashboard GPS units that became a staple of American cars in the 2000s, making Garmin a household name and a dominant force in personal navigation.

Then smartphones arrived. In 2007-08, free built-in maps on iPhones and Androids made the standalone GPS unit look obsolete, and analysts predicted Garmin would be another Blockbuster. Garmin's response was the opposite of capitulation: it diversified aggressively into aviation, marine and especially fitness — building GPS watches and cycling computers that paired with its navigation DNA. The tactic worked.

Today Garmin is remarkably profitable, with its premium Fenix and Forerunner watches, its aviation and marine lines, and a reputation for long battery life and rugged build that smartphones never matched. Its stock hit records through the 2020s, and it enters the AI era with a strong position in outdoor and wellness wearables. Far from dying, the company whose core product supposedly became redundant has grown consistently for a decade.

Timeline

  1. 1989 — Garmin founded: Burrell and Kao merge their names into a GPS company in Lenexa, Kansas. (Kansas)
  2. 1990s — Civilian GPS: Garmin brings GPS out of the military into handheld and auto-navigation devices.
  3. 2000s — Dashboard dominance: The standalone GPS unit becomes a staple of American cars; Garmin owns the market.
  4. 2007-08 — The smartphone threat: Free maps on iPhones and Androids make the standalone unit look obsolete.
  5. 2010s — The pivot: Garmin diversifies into aviation, marine, and GPS fitness watches.
  6. Today — A wearable leader: Premium Fenix and Forerunner watches drive record revenue and profits.

Quick facts

Founded
1989, by Burrell & Kao
Core product
Handheld/dashboard GPS (1990s-2000s)
Pivot
Wearables, aviation, marine, fitness
Flagship watches
Fenix, Forerunner, Epix
Ownership
Public (GRMN), Kao co-owns

Sources

  1. Garmin - Wikipedia — Wikipedia (2026-02-14)
  2. Garmin: The GPS company that didn't die — The Motley Fool (2026-02-14)

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