Total year-end sales exceed $2.5 billion, a 4 percent increase from 2013 

DALLAS, TEXAS, April 9, 2015 -- The Aircraft Electronics Association released its 2014 year-end Avionics Market Report during the 58th annual AEA International Convention & Trade Show at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. 

Total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales for the year amounted to $2,527,567,302.42, or more than $2.5 billion. The figure represented a 4 percent increase in sales compared to the previous year as reported by the participating companies in 2013. 

The dollar amount reported (using net sales price, not manufacturer's suggested retail price) includes: all business and general aviation aircraft electronic sales -- including 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. The amount does not include repairs and overhauls, extended warranty or subscription services. 

Of the more than $2.5 billion in total sales, 51.4 percent came from forward-fit (avionics equipment installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) sales. The forward-fit market accounted for 54 percent of total sales a year ago in 2013. 

The retrofit (avionics equipment installed after original production) market amounted to 48.6 percent of total sales for the year, a slight increase from the 46 percent market share for retrofit sales in 2013. 

According to the companies that separated their total sales figures between North America (U.S. and Canada) and other international markets, 62.6 percent of the 2014 sales volume occurred in North America (U.S. and Canada), while 37.4 percent took place in other international markets.

2014 Percentage of Total Sales by Market
Quarter	Retrofit	Forward-fit		U.S./Canada	Other International
1Q 2014	49.3%	50.7%		62.9%	37.1%
2Q 2014	48.8%	51.2%		62.7%	37.3%
3Q 2014	47.3%	52.7%		63.4%	36.6%
4Q 2014	48.9%	51.1%		61.2%	38.8%
2014 Totals	48.6%	51.4%		62.6%	37.4%

"The report indicates modest year-over-year growth in sales for the second straight year," said AEA President Paula Derks when unveiling the 2014 data at the AEA Convention's state of the industry session on April 9. "This is only the third year of the report's existence, but it is beginning to establish a solid baseline to better evaluate and compare data in the years ahead. Interestingly, the year-end report noted that more than 37 percent of avionics sales took place outside the United States and Canada, which is another indicator that the business and general aviation industry truly is an international market. Also of note is the fact that the first six months of 2014 contributed to a little more than half of the year's total sales volume when compared to the third and fourth quarters. This may be worth watching in future years to determine if there exists some seasonality in sales trends within the course of a single year." 

Below is a review of the year-end totals for the three-year history of the AEA Avionics Market Report. Participating companies began separating total sales into retrofit/forward-fit sales in 2013.

More information about the AEA Avionics Market Report is available online at www.aea.net/marketreport. 

History and Background Information:
The AEA first introduced its Avionics Market Report March 26, 2013, during the 56th annual AEA International Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Prior to 2012, there never had been an effort to capture the true dollar size of the business and general aviation avionics market. The concept to produce the AEA Avionics Market Report began in April 2012, when the AEA formed an ad hoc committee comprised of representatives of avionics manufacturers to create a tool for strategic planning and examining market share. 

"This report provides valuable information to promote the business and general aviation avionics industry to investors and inform elected officials of its global economic value," Derks said when the report was first introduced.

To ensure confidentiality, the participating manufacturing companies submit their sales figures to an independent third-party accounting firm retained to produce the AEA Avionics Market Report. The companies currently participating in the report include:

• Accord Technology
• Alto Aviation
• Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp.
• Aspen Avionics
• BendixKing
• Cool City Avionics
• FreeFlight Systems
• Garmin
• Genesys Aerosystems
• Gogo Business Aviation
• Honeywell Business & General Aviation
• ICG
• Jupiter Avionics
• Latitude Technologies
• L-3 Aviation Products
• Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
• PS Engineering
• Rockwell Collins
• Sandia Aerospace
• Shadin Avionics
• Trig Avionics
• Universal Avionics Systems Corp. 

The number of companies that participate in the AEA Avionics Market Report may change on a quarterly and/or annual basis, and any comparative analysis of the data should take this into consideration. 

For the 2014 reporting cycle, the 22 companies listed remained the same and did not change during the course of the year.

All dollar amounts noted are U.S. dollars. The AEA Avionics Market Report should not be considered a predictive indicator of future industry sales activity. The circumstances discussed in the report may not occur in future time periods, and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the AEA Avionics Market Report and the companies that participate in the report. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Aircraft Electronics Association, along with the participating companies in the AEA Avionics Market Report, undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.