Garmin Corporation, a global GPS technology firm, has opened a Thai office and vowed to invest more in the Thai market to capitalise on the growth of smart wearable devices and navigation systems based on digital lifestyles and health-conscious trends.
"We decided to open the office in Thailand to widen the business opportunities beyond customer and project-based solutions to cover the corporate market and increase after-sales services to customers," said Sky Chen, sales director of Garmin Thailand, during the office launch.
Garmin's global revenue grew 11% year-on-year in 2020, setting a new record of US$4.19 billion, pushed up by the pandemic. Profit surged 60%.
Some 17% of the company's total revenue is spent on R&D to innovate products and features that will cater to a variety of segments, including aviation, marine, automotive and outdoor and fitness.
Garmin holds $949 million in cash and is ready to gear up for expansion, said Mr Chen.
In 2020, Thailand's smart wearable devices shipments surged 7% year-on-year to 970,000 units, according to IT research firm IDC.
IDC said the trend is gathering momentum and a double digit growth could be expected in the Thai market this year.
According to statistics portal Statista, 54% of the Thai population still do not have smart wearable devices.
Despite economic sluggishness, consumers are still health-conscious and many engage in outdoor activities, especially those which do not make them exposed to bad air pollution, such as golf and diving, said Mr Chen.
"Garmin has a broad price range of products from entry to high-end costing between 3,000 and 60,000 baht," he said.
Mr Chen said the market suggests demand has shifted from low-end wearable devices to mid-end products.
In Thailand, low-end wearable devices costing less than $100 made up 19% of the market share in 2019, but this fell to 14% last year.
Wearable devices costing $100-200 made up 33% of the market share in 2020, up from 19% a year before.
Mr Chen said despite the pandemic in 2020, indoor activities surged 55%, mainly driven by indoor cardio exercise and yoga while outdoor activities rose 25% crucially supported by cycling and golf.
Garmin is focusing more on market segmentation, particularly sports, so among its targets are runners, divers, golfers and cyclists.
The company recently introduced new product models this year for e-sports players which can display their heart rates while playing games, as well as small smartwatches for ladies, according to Mr Chen.
The company has drawn up four strategies for growth in Thailand.
The first strategy concerns vertical integration between operating systems and hardware. Through this, the company can design products that will be able to respond to the market.
Under the second strategy, Garmin will expand its brand presence in vertical segments, such as corporate/project-based devices for auto industries as well as personal navigation devices for yachts and aircraft.
The third strategy concerns customer experience engagement. The company has rolled out Garmin Run Club -- a new community for runners who will be able to search for online and offline training programmes.
The fourth strategy involves an improvement in Garmin's service experience, for example, by means of a call centre and support teams as well as by picking up products for repair from customers' homes.
Garmin appointed Central Marketing Group as its second distributor to promote lifestyle products at retail malls. The firm has opened flagship stores in Chiang Mai and Bangkok to showcase its full range of products. Two more flagship stores are set to open this year.