US-based Garmin, a GPS navigation solution and wearable device provider, plans to invest in Southeast Asia as part of efforts to improve the resilience of its supply chain.
The company is to begin investment next month, with production set to start in 2026, but the location of the plant would not be announced until next month, Garmin marketing and business vice president for Asia Lin Meng-yuan (林孟垣) said.
The move, which has been in the works for some time, is aimed at diversifying Garmin’s production base and strengthening its supply chain resilience by building closer ties with suppliers there, Lin said.
Photo: CNA
Strengthening the company’s supply chain is critical, because Garmin tends to require short lead times for products and more than two suppliers for every component the company purchases, Lin added.
The investment project, which would initially focus on auto navigation products, is expected to help spur the company’s growth over the next 10 to 30 years, Lin said.
Garmin, which was cofounded by Min Kao (高民環), a Taiwanese, has maintained 90 percent of production in Taiwan and employs about 10,000 people in the country.
However, the relocation was not focused on lowering manufacturing costs, Lin said.
In Taiwan, Garmin has production sites in Sijhih (汐止) and Linkuo (林口) districts in New Taipei City, Jhongli District (中壢) in Taoyuan and Tainan, where the company expanded capacity in 2021, Lin said.
It has also set up a research and development center in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), reflecting its efforts to invest in Taiwan, Lin added.
Outside the nation, Garmin has 10 production bases in the US and Europe.
Garmin expects its sales to grow by 10 percent on average this year, with revenue in Asia to grow 19 percent and outperform, despite foreign exchange losses in Japan and a slow economic recovery in China.
Sales in Taiwan, which is considered to be a mature market, are expected to grow by 10 percent this year, while the markets in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia are to grow steadily.
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