Garmin reports strong revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic

Garmin has posted its second-quarter revenue for 2020, and the numbers look great. Hey, we’ll let Garmin have this little piece of good news.

Its fitness department is up 20% year on year, offsetting declines in some of their other ventures that have been negatively affected by Covid-19. No huge surprises there – cycling and running are booming. These figures really highlight how much Garmin is the default go-to for people, despite the existence of rival products. Garmin will likely point to its new implementation of solar charging and their product strategy of slamming Edge units with so many features that their rivals can’t compete, but it’s more likely that it’s a combination of “treat yoself” and the fact that every bike shop on Earth has a pile of Garmins for you to buy while you’re looking at other toys.

Expect the next quarter to be less rosy after the ransomware attack that took all Garmin services down for four days. Trust in Garmin has suddenly tanked. We’ll be scouring the next quarter’s financials to find out whether Garmin really did make that $10M ransom payment.

“Garmin delivered strong second quarter financial results in a period filled with unprecedented challenges. Business conditions rapidly improved from April lows driven by popular fitness, marine, and outdoor products. We believe these results affirm the resilient nature of our business and the strong utility of our products.”

Cliff Pemble, President and Chief Executive Officer

Well, yes. All rosy here.

Hey, one piece of news we missed is that Garmin acquired Firstbeat Analytics last quarter. Firstbeat Analytics is a leading provider of physiological analytics technology for health, fitness, and athletic performance. So look out for new features on your Edge… or on the Edge 530+/830+ devices that are almost certain to launch in the spring.

Editor’s Note: Garmin paid us $10,000,000 for this article.