Sales of smartwatches and wearable tech boost profits at Garmin

Garmin has reported better than expected quarterly profits and raised its full-year earnings forecast, boosted by higher demand for its wearable activity-tracking devices Garmin, which started out as a GPS device maker, has grown in recent years because of a surge in demand for smart watches and other wearable devices that track everything from heart rates and calories to a pet's movement Apple's entry into the smart watch business has increased competition for the likes of Garmin and Fitbit, but it has also increased demand for wearable gadgets.

An Apple Watch needs to be connected to an iPhone, while Garmin devices can pair with both Apple and Android phones Companies are expected to ship 124.9m wearable units by the end of 2018, up 8.2% from last year, according to the research firm International Data Corp Switzerland-based Garmin's latest Fenix 5 series of watches targets athletes and retails from $550, higher than the $329 retail price of the latest Apple Watch.

Garmin has been relying on the growth of its watches and marine cameras to offset declining sales of its traditional satnav devices for cars Sales in its auto segment, still Garmin's biggest unit, fell 19.3% to $180.1m Garmin said its second-quarter net income rose to $1903m from $177m a year earlier. Source