Avionics News August 2014 - 29

person to go through all the customer invoices and work
orders to complete the survey."
At the end, the survey captured just 18 percent of the
retrofit market, she noted, and it provided no information on the forward-fit market - the avionics installed in
new aircraft by the airframe OEMs. So the AEA board of
directors voted to discontinue it. It was clear the avionics OEMs were the best source of information on both
markets. It also was clear that without their buy-in, there
would be no report. The solution was conceived at an
informal round-table discussion among more than 40
representatives from avionics and instrument manufacturers at the 2012 AEA Convention in Washington, D.C.
Their enthusiastic
response led to the
formation of an eightmember (now 10) ad
hoc committee to guide
the development of the
report. It first met at the
AEA's Lee's Summit,
Missouri, headquarters
in June 2012 to discuss
the report's content and
how it would mature
in two phases. In 2013,
the first phase would
begin with the debut
of the report's collective forward-fit and
retrofit sales figures
Published
by the
for 2012, followed by
quarterly reports. With
the agreement of the
participating OEMs, the
reports would break down the totals into more specific
categories, such as North American (U.S. and Canada)
and all other international sales, which began with the
first-quarter report in 2014.
"Enhancing the report's content is based on trust, so it
starts with baby steps," Derks said.
The report's ad hoc committee has set no timetable
for the second phase, but it has outlined the report's
desired breakdown by aircraft category and class, certificated and noncertificated avionics and, eventually
if the participants agree, system categories like communications, surveillance/ADS-B, navigation and cabin
systems.

With the initial plan in place, in December 2012, the
AEA sent a letter to its associate members inviting them
to participate in its Avionics Market Report. It asked
them to provide the dollar figure of all aircraft electronics sales - including certificated and noncertificated
components and accessories in cockpit, cabin, software
upgrades, portables, tip-to-tail hardware, batteries, and
chargeable product upgrades using their respective net
sales price, not the manufacturer suggested retail price.
It addressed data security with this eye-catching headline: Confidentiality of your sales data.
"Understandably, confidentiality is paramount for each
participating manufacturer," Derks said. "As thoroughly
discussed by the ad hoc
committee, a thirdparty, independent
accounting firm collects
data from the participants. No individual
company sales data will
ever be released. Each
participating company
receives a signed nondisclosure agreement
from the third-party
research firm retained to
produce the AEA Avionics Market Report."
Participating in the
report from the start,
Garmin is "extremely
confident" in the security this system provides, said Jim Alpiser,
director of aftermarket
sales. "We like the fact that the CPA firm has no specific
ties to the avionics industry. Its normal business practices require the highest level of confidentiality as part of
its livelihood, and it uses a secure web portal for participants to easily upload the data."
The original letter to AEA's associate members listed
eight members of the ad hoc committee that had already
committed to participate: Aspen Avionics, BendixKing,
Cobham (Chelton S-Tec), Garmin, Honeywell, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics, Rockwell Collins and
Universal Avionics Systems Corp.

AEA
Avionics
Market Report

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Avionics News August 2014

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