Avionics market turning around and should recover in 2014, says Frost & Sullivan

Posted by John McHaleMUNICH, Germany, 17 March 2011. The worldwide avionics market should return to full health in about 2014, after showing recent signs of growth, said Diogenis Papiomytis, principal consultant with market researcher Frost & Sullivan, in an address today at Avionics & Defence Electronics Europe conference and trade show in Munich, Germany.“We are seeing strong areas such as with retrofits, but are more conservative than others such as Airbus as to the current rate of growth,” Papiomytis told conference attendees. The market is still fragile and things could go the other way in a hurry with a natural disaster such as the volcanic ash issues from 2010.Technology areas that will show strong growth for suppliers include flight data management and automated avionics test equipment, Papiomytis says.

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Market drivers include ageing fleets that drive retrofits; glass cockpits that are becoming a “must have” for aircraft designers; and requirement driven approaches such as required navigation performance or RNP.

The restraints are the concern that oil prices may peak again and could cause production cuts, the permanent parking of older aircraft; and mandatory equipment installations limiting funds for other aircraft, he says.

Experts are predicting 5 percent year- on-year growth for the avionics market through 2020, Papiomytis says. The largest growth area will be retrofits, which has the fastest growing manufacturing backlog, he adds.

About $57.8 billion will be spent on forward fits, about $29.7 billion in services, and about $14.4 billion in retrofits -- and "these figures correspond to the whole forecast period of 2010-2020," Papiomytis says. Navigation, surveillance, and communications are the fasts growing technology sectors within the avionics market, he adds.

Papiomytis went on to say that Honeywell aerospace in Phoenix has the biggest share of air transport avionics and Rockwell Collins is the tops in market share in the business jet market.

The two-day Avionics & Defence Electronics Europe show, sponsored by Avionics Intelligence and PennWell, winds up today, with more than a 35 percent increase in attendees from the 2010 show, conference officials say.

Avionics Conference in its ninth year, and is one of the premiere conferences for avionics and the defense electronics industry in Europe. Next year's show will be 21 and 22 March 2012 in Munich, Germany.

For more information contact the Avionics and Defence Electronics Europe conference and trade show online at www.avionics-event.com.