AEA Unveils First-Quarter 2021 Avionics Market Report

The Aircraft Electronics Association releases its first-quarter 2021 Avionics Market Report. In the first three months of the year, total worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales amounted to $568,810,353, or more than $568 million as reported by the participating companies.

First three months of 2021 worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales:

• Quarter: 1Q 2021
• Retrofit: $305,667,893.00
• Forward-fit: $263,142,460.00
• Total Sales: $568,810,353.00

The figure represented a 13.9% decrease in total sales compared to the first-quarter 2020 amount of $660,428,548.41, or more than $660 million. However, it also represented a nearly 1% increase in sales sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2020 and marked the third consecutive quarter of increasing sales. Forward-fit sales increased 18.7% over the fourth quarter of 2020.

First three months of worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales:

• Retrofit — 2020: $345,650,537.69     2021: $305,667,893.00     % Change: -11.6%
• Forward-fit — 2020: $314,778,010.72     2021: $263,142,460.00     % Change: -16.4%
• YTD — 2020: $660,428,548.41     2021: $568,810,353.00     % Change: -13.9%

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 $568 million in first-quarter 2021 sales, 53.7% came from the retrofit market (avionics equipment installed after original production), while forward-fit sales (avionics equipment installed by airframe manufacturers during original production) amounted to 46.3% of first-quarter sales.

According to the companies that separated their total sales figures between North America (U.S. and Canada) and other international markets, 76% of the first-quarter sales volume occurred in North America (U.S. and Canada), while 24% took place in other international markets.

2021 Percentage of Total Sales by Market:

• Quarter: 1Q 2021
• Retrofit: 53.7%
• Forward-fit: 46.3%

2021 Percentage of Total Sales Worldwide:

• Quarter: 1Q 2021
• U.S./Canada: 76.0%
• Other International: 24.0%

All dollar amounts noted are U.S. dollars. The number of companies that participate in the AEA Avionics Market Report may change on a quarterly and/or annual basis. This may occur due to mergers and acquisitions during the year along with new companies participating in the reporting process. Any comparative analysis of the data should take this variance into consideration.

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.

"With avionics sales trending in the right direction over the last nine months, it appears that a slow and steady industry recovery is underway," says AEA president and CEO, Mike Adamson. "The last six months of 2020 saw a rebound in retrofit sales, and it's encouraging to see forward-fit sales up sharply from the previous quarter in the aircraft manufacturing sector. As new products are introduced at the AEA Convention in June and EAA’s AirVenture in July, I'm hopeful that avionics manufacturers will be able to clear some of the supply-chain hurdles they face and continue this upward trend."

More information about the AEA Avionics Market Report, including a nine-year history of year-end totals, is available online at www.aea.net/marketreport. 

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

• ACR Artex
• ALTO Aviation
• Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp.
• Appareo
• Aspen Avionics
• BendixKing
• Blue Avionics
• Collins Aerospace
• FreeFlight Systems
• Garmin
• Genesys Aerosystems
• Gogo Business Aviation
• Honeywell Business & General Aviation
• Jupiter Avionics
• L3Harris Technologies
• Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
• PS Engineering
• Sandia Aerospace
• Shadin Avionics
• Trig Avionics Limited
• Universal Avionics, an Elbit Systems Co.