Aspen Avionics Enters into Agreement with the AIRO Group

[Andy Smith]

All,

Just want to take a moment to comment on the great news for Aspen Avionics. As you are aware from the recent press coverage that we have agreed in principle to become part of a larger group of like-minded aerospace companies. To be clear, Aspen IS the centerpiece of the AIRO Group with our established brand offering much of the manufacturing, supply chain and technical expertise. What that means to you and the GA community is that we will have more resources to develop, engineer and deliver more avionics options to give you more choices when it comes to making your purchasing decision.
Simply put we will be a stronger organization and you as the customer will benefit. If you have any other questions, please reach out to me directly and I will be happy to address them. Andy.smith@aspenavionics.com

[carusoam]

So...

Typical follow up question to a friend.... from somebody that has seen this before about a dozen times.....
 

Andy, will you be staying on, at the center of such a fine conglomeration?

Best regards,

-a-

[ZuluZulu]

What does "like-minded aerospace company" mean?  Does that translate to "our new bosses want us focusing on drones from now on," as it seems?

[MikeOH]

Hmm, kinda of glad I haven't purchase an Aspen.

Wait and see.  These M&As rarely go well for customers, I'm afraid.

Here's hoping.

[hammdo]

And not just aviation...

-Don

[Andy Smith]

11 hours ago, carusoam said:

So...

Typical follow up question to a friend.... from somebody that has seen this before about a dozen times.....
 

Andy, will you be staying on, at the center of such a fine conglomeration?

Best regards,

-a-

Yes I will continue to be part of Aspen Avionics as well as our ENTIRE sales, support, manufacturing, engineering and management team. It is business ad usual.  

[Andy Smith]

10 hours ago, ZuluZulu said:

What does "like-minded aerospace company" mean?  Does that translate to "our new bosses want us focusing on drones from now on," as it seems?

Our primary focus will still to continue to be in the GA market. 

[Andy Smith]

9 hours ago, MikeOH said:

Hmm, kinda of glad I haven't purchase an Aspen.

Wait and see.  These M&As rarely go well for customers, I'm afraid.

Here's hoping.

I can understand your apprehension, however this will not be the case. Without going into to much detail, Aspen will be taking a lead role in this organization handling many of the day to day transactions including engineering, and manufacturing. This is going to lead to greater resources and a more robust product line. 

Time will always tell, but be assured this is a good thing for all, including you as a customer. 

[PTK]

20 minutes ago, Andy Smith said:

Our primary focus will still to continue to be in the GA market. 

Not according to your pres who wants to focus on drones...

“General aviation is a good, solid business, but not high growth,” Uczekaj said. “We see all that [drone and UAM technology] as part of the growth cycle, and we want to accelerate that.” 

I don’t agree with his opinion btw. I think there’s tremendous growth in GA and Aspen missed the boat. Look at Garmin and look at Aspen! All you have to show is a, as in “one”, display!

[ArtVandelay]

I hope this goes well. Garmin has the advantage of having a complete solution: navigation, transponder, MFDs, autopilot, and EFB app. I believe that any competition needs to be equally capable. The Avidyne, Aspens, Trutrak, etc need to pool their resources IMO.

[Andy Smith]

11 minutes ago, PTK said:

Not according to your pres who wants to focus on drones...

“General aviation is a good, solid business, but not high growth,” Uczekaj said. “We see all that [drone and UAM technology] as part of the growth cycle, and we want to accelerate that.” 
I don’t agree with his opinion btw. I think there’s tremendous growth in GA and Aspen missed the boat.

Some people get it and some people don't. This move was not done out of necessity, but rather done to make the company stronger. We have broadened our reach and resources all the while maintaining the integrity of Aspen as a company. With a more diversified portfolio of knowledge, engineering, certification and manufacturing we are poised to change the landscape of GA...… AGAIN.  

[Marauder]

I can understand your apprehension, however this will not be the case. Without going into to much detail, Aspen will be taking a lead role in this organization handling many of the day to day transactions including engineering, and manufacturing. This is going to lead to greater resources and a more robust product line. 
Time will always tell, but be assured this is a good thing for all, including you as a customer. 

Andy - when I first saw your announcement I got excited that this group was made up of like minded GA manufacturers like Avidyne, Dynon, Gensys, JPI and what remains of L-3 for GA. A group that could collectively take on Garmin.

I looked at the participating members of this “group” and other than drone applications, it was impossible to see exactly what are they selling for the GA market. They look like a hodgepodge of drone tinkerers. If this group is relying upon your resources (both financial & people resources) to produce a non-GA market application, won’t it de-emphasize your focus on your existing GA customer base?

I think Aspen needs to quickly disclose exactly how this is going to benefit existing and potential new GA customers. Otherwise, you run the risk of alienating your installed base and like Mike above, potentially new customers. I would have hope Aspen learned that when you collaborated with Bendix King on 770 (that product needs another “0” at the end of the model number).

Now is the time to get the message out... not the “Time will always tell, but be assured this is a good thing for all, including you as a customer” approach.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Andy Smith]

1 hour ago, Marauder said:

 

Andy - when I first saw your announcement I got excited that this group was made up of like minded GA manufacturers like Avidyne, Dynon, Gensys, JPI and what remains of L-3 for GA. A group that could collectively take on Garmin.

I looked at the participating members of this “group” and other than drone applications, it was impossible to see exactly what are they selling for the GA market. They look like a hodgepodge of drone tinkerers. If this group is relying upon your resources (both financial & people resources) to produce a non-GA market application, won’t it de-emphasize your focus on your existing GA customer base?

I think Aspen needs to quickly disclose exactly how this is going to benefit existing and potential new GA customers. Otherwise, you run the risk of alienating your installed base and like Mike above, potentially new customers. I would have hope Aspen learned that when you collaborated with Bendix King on 770 (that product needs another “0” at the end of the model number).

Now is the time to get the message out... not the “Time will always tell, but be assured this is a good thing for all, including you as a customer” approach.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

There will more details to come, I am sure you can appreciate and understand that they need to be controlled for the time being. Although some vagueness can lead to apprehension, I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we are not going anywhere and will continue to be part of the GA market.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.   

Edited August 6, 2020 by Andy Smith
Clarification for PTK

[PTK]

1 hour ago, Andy Smith said:

Some people get it and some people don't. This move was not done out of necessity, but rather done to make the company stronger. We have broadened our reach and resources all the while maintaining the integrity of Aspen as a company. With a more diversified portfolio of knowledge, engineering, certification and manufacturing we are poised to change the landscape of GA...… AGAIN.  

The ones who need to “get it” are the ones at Aspen and don’t alienate but educate your potential customer base who may or may not “get it.” 

38 minutes ago, Andy Smith said:

There will more details to come, I am sure you can appreciate and understand that they need to be controlled for the time being. Although some vagueness can lead to apprehension, I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we are not going anywhere within GA.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.   

And you don’t “get it!” It’s too late for “patience and understanding!” You are the one who opened your mouth and put out this “vagueness” causing “apprehension!” In direct contradiction to your pres! Do you “get it” how confusing and alienating this is and how it drives potential customers away? If you are confused how do you think your potential customers feel?

At least proof read your scripts and try to be on the same page! 

[Andy Smith]

22 minutes ago, PTK said:

The ones who need to “get it” are the ones at Aspen and educate your potential customer base who may or may not “get it.” 

And you don’t “get it!” It’s too late for “patience and understanding!” You are the one who opened your mouth and put out this “vagueness” causing “apprehension!” In direct contradiction to your pres! Do you “get it” how confusing this is and how it drives potential customers away? If you are confused how do you think your potential customers feel?

At least proof read your scripts and try to be on the same page! 

Thank you for your input. I will be sure to pass it on. Be safe, stay healthy. 

[PTK]

44 minutes ago, Andy Smith said:

Although some vagueness can lead to apprehension, I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we are not going anywhere within GA.

So am I to understand that GA is a dead end for Aspen? And has decided to leave GA?

[Andy Smith]

Just now, PTK said:

So am I to understand that GA is a dead end for Aspen? And has decided to leave GA?

I have said several times that our primary focus will remain on GA. You may have misinterpreted the comment. Read it again, with reference and in context to previous comments such as

"Our primary focus will still to continue to be in the GA market." and  "With a more diversified portfolio of knowledge, engineering, certification and manufacturing we are poised to change the landscape of GA...… AGAIN."

 The comment "I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we are not going anywhere within GA." means we are staying in the market, happy to be here, looking forward to the future within the GA space, proud to be part of GA.... etc. 

[PTK]

13 minutes ago, Andy Smith said:

You may have misinterpreted the comment.

You mistyped it. This is an example of how you can confuse your potential market.  Maybe you should go back and correct yourself to say what you want to say. 
It’s not up to me to read and re-read and draw references. This is not high school! 

[Andy Smith]

1 minute ago, PTK said:

You mistyped it. This is an example of how you can confuse your potential market.  Maybe you should go back and correct yourself to say what you want to say. 

edited post for clarification. 

[EricJ]

Looks like a focus change for Aspen.   Can't blame 'em, go where the money and opportunities are.

 

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

Looks like a focus change for Aspen.   Can't blame 'em, go where the money and opportunities are.
 

 

Don’t worry. Once Garmin catches wind of the market opportunity with drones, they will jump in. Just like they did with Aspen’s Connected Pilot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Marauder

[ZuluZulu]

25 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Looks like a focus change for Aspen.   Can't blame 'em, go where the money and opportunities are.

 

Or at least where they think those are.

18 hours ago, Andy Smith said:

To be clear, Aspen IS the centerpiece of the AIRO Group with our established brand offering much of the manufacturing, supply chain and technical expertise.

I just don't understand how this could possibly be a win for GA.  Before, they were free to focus all of their energies on their GA product lines all of the time.  Now, their attention is necessarily divided in order to supply "much of the manufacturing, supply chain and technical expertise" to an array of drone companies.  Add on top of that their CEO publicly announcing going after the drone market because it offers growth opportunities, while GA is comparatively stagnant.   Their resources might well increase, but there are going to be many more demands on those resources than just GA now.  How can that be anything other than a giant distraction and setback to their GA business?  And the drone companies outnumber them in this "like-minded" group!  When the engineers and product managers and procurement agents and testers from all of their sister companies are calling all day every day trying to push their own products out the door, is Aspen really going to send those calls to voicemail so they can keep developing a brand-new 10" Evolution EFD 2000X HD?  Just not buying the PR spin on this.  But I appreciate Andy being here and answering the questions.

[Andy Smith]

Great interview with our CEO John Uczekaj. He does a great job explaining our position. Interview is about 6 minutes.

https://aopalive.aopa.org/detail/videos/latest-videos/video/6178843645001/aspen-avionics-gets-bigger?autoStart=true 

Edited August 6, 2020 by Andy Smith

[MikeOH]

4 hours ago, Andy Smith said:

Great interview with our CEO John Uczekaj. He does a great job explaining our position. Interview is about 6 minutes.

https://aopalive.aopa.org/detail/videos/latest-videos/video/6178843645001/aspen-avionics-gets-bigger?autoStart=true 

Nice presentation, but while your president is very polished I did not like what I heard.  Seems Aspen was doing well but couldn't grow organically to develop products that would compete with Garmin's complete line up.  So, logically, Aspen went looking for investors...but, not surprisingly that didn't go too well as they saw big capital outlay for product development in a market dominated by Garmin.  Even after successfully developing and certifying products they would need to be priced lower to grab market share in a static, or possibly shrinking, market.  Garmin could and would respond to a threat like that.  Investors thought this through and rightfully concluded, "Where's my payback?" Nowhere, that's where.

Now, OTH, the drone market is established but still somewhat nascent with HUGE growth potential.  Aspen has the engineering, product marketing, manufacturing expertise and requisite overhead structure to rapidly develop products for that market.  BINGO!  Investors are interested in that strategy; they see a payback.

Your president can, with a completely straight face, honestly say they are focusing on GA.  Drones ARE a subset of GA.  Just NOT the one we pilots are concerned with as consumers of Aspen products.

Right out of the press release, "The AIRO Group is a dynamic new-entry, integrated mid-cap Aerospace & Defense (A&D) platform focused on disruptive technologies supporting three complementary lines of business: Drone Technology / Urban Air Mobility, Advanced Avionics and Defense & Training."

I'm not seeing our idea of GA in ANY of the 'three complementary lines of business.'

[LANCECASPER]

14 hours ago, Andy Smith said:

Some people get it and some people don't. This move was not done out of necessity, but rather done to make the company stronger. We have broadened our reach and resources all the while maintaining the integrity of Aspen as a company. With a more diversified portfolio of knowledge, engineering, certification and manufacturing we are poised to change the landscape of GA...… AGAIN.  

Pay no attention to @PTK and his negativity. He has offended almost all of Mooneyspace and is working on the rest.

 

Thanks for coming on here Andy, please keep us posted on the exciting news down the pike.