Obviously Garmin® has long teeth ! After Active Captain and Navionics charts, Garmin® has just announced the purchase of Vesper Marine, specialized in high-end AIS transponders (¹).
Business Wire – Garmin® Ltd, brand ownerGarmin®, annouced on 3 January 2022 the acquisition of Vesper Marine, AIS solutions manufacturer, VHF and vessel monitoring for the maritime industry. This acquisition is expected to bolster Garmin’s industry-leading lineup of marine products and technology, leader in its market, in order to enhanced situational awareness for boaters.
Business Wire – Garmin® Ltd was founded in 1989 and is currently based in Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, with its head quarter Garmin International Inc. in the United States (Olathe, Kansas). The company, has developed portable GPS for the general public, in all areas of leisure: aviation, automotive, plein-air, boating. From watches to cell phones, through GPS map and MFDs, Garmin offers an impressive number of devices, including a large number of instruments dedicated to pleasure boating.
With almost 15 years of experience, Vesper Marine, headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, has developed a range of communications products and solutions for recreational boating and workboats, notably the Cortex system, which was recently awarded. Cortex combines a state-of-the-art VHF radio with Vesper's unique smartAIS transponder and remote vessel monitoring technology. Vesper smartAIS transponders feature built-in alarms to alert mariners of potential collisions, dragging anchor and man overboard situations. The company also offers mobile applications to monitor, view and manage a Cortex system or smartAIS transponder for iOS and Android devices.
Jarrod Seymour, vice president of Garmin, declared :
Vesper has pioneered a number of innovations in the marine communications space, with recognition across the industry for its emphasis on user-friendly and intuitive interfaces that make it easier to communicate on the water. Together with the Vesper team, we look forward to providing an unmatched portfolio of integrated marine communications products and services to our customers.
On his side, Carl Omundsen, co-founder of Vesper Marine, declared :
We are excited to have the support from a marine technology leader like Garmin. This combination will allow Vesper to expand its capabilities and integration into the marine communication market to make an even greater impact in the boating industry.
We wonder where Garmin will stop ? But it seems obvious that we see a concentration of companies there, as was the case a few weeks ago for Navico and C-Map (²).
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(¹) Source : Garmin newsroom
(²) C-Map plays the ping-pong ball of industrial groups
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Garmin needs external growth to raise its share price. This has been in continuous decline since September: we can expect several other acquisitions in the coming months.
The question is more how they will execute the integration of Vesper into their product portfolio. If we look at what they did in terms of marine cartography, it's not terrible.