The outdoor segment posted revenue growth of 12% in the quarter as the GPSMAP® 62, a high-end handheld product, and our Astro® dog tracking system performed well globally. The diverse niche markets we serve in this segment continue to provide opportunities and we continue to invest in product enhancements and adjacent markets.

The fitness segment posted revenue growth of 30% in the quarter as the business continues to expand both in North America and globally. We experienced strong demand for our high-end cycling products, particularly in Europe, and we continue to focus on leadership in the GPS running watch category with the release of the Forerunner 610. We anticipate strong demand for this product based upon the enthusiasm we saw at the Boston Marathon in April.

The aviation segment posted revenue growth of 5% as the product mix shifted toward high-end units in our retrofit and portable businesses. The aviation OEM market for single engine and turboprop planes continues to be depressed but we expect some improvement in the back half of 2011. Our focus continues to be on investment to achieve our long-term strategic initiatives of expanding our presence in the business jet and helicopter markets where we are beginning to see success. In the helicopter market, we announced OEM wins for the G500H with Robinson, MD Helicopters and Eurocopter and for the G1000H™ with Bell Helicopters.

In the marine segment, revenues grew 24% year-over-year and 38% sequentially as the marine season approached. The boating industry has shown signs of recovery and we are poised to take advantage of that opportunity as boaters prepare for the upcoming season. Many of the OEM wins that were announced throughout 2010 and at the Miami Boat Show this winter are beginning to contribute revenue and are expected to allow us to deliver strong growth in revenues and operating income in the segment.

Looking finally at the auto/mobile segment, we posted revenue growth of 20% as our auto OEM business continued to grow and remaining mobile phone inventories were sold. PNDs posted slight growth over the depressed levels we experienced in the first quarter 2010. We don’t expect the PND market to continue to grow year over year due to ongoing market contraction. However, we remain focused on our goals of market leadership and profitability in the PND market and expect to see improvement in both as the year progresses with ASPs stabilizing and the market consolidating. At the same time, we have committed significant sales and research and development resources to the auto OEM business which offers significant long-term opportunities. We are excited about the opening of a new office in the Detroit area to support our growing presence in this industry and the addition of Matthew Munn, Vice President and Managing Director Automotive OEM, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience.”

Financial overview from Kevin Rauckman, Chief Financial Officer:

“Strong revenue growth, along with operating income growth in three of our segments, got the year off to a good start,” said Kevin Rauckman, chief financial officer of Garmin Ltd. “While revenues grew 18%, profitability was negatively impacted by lower gross and operating margins, specifically in our automotive/mobile segment.

Gross margin for the overall business was 47% in the first quarter declining from 54% in the prior year largely driven by the automotive/mobile segment. Gross margin strength in the prior year quarter was primarily related to the refined warranty estimate that reduced costs by $22 million. This warranty refinement, combined with the increasing deferral of high margin revenues and costs associated with our bundled PNDs into future periods, accounts for 580 basis points of the total company gross margin decline and 780 basis points of decline in the automotive/mobile segment. End of life promotional efforts also contributed to the lower gross margins in automotive/mobile. We expect gross margins for the automotive/mobile segment and the overall company to improve throughout the year.

Operating margin for the overall business decreased to 15% when compared with 19% in the year-ago quarter with the gross margin decline partially offset by a decrease in operating expenses as a percentage of sales. When considering the refined warranty estimate adjustment of 2010, operating income grew 21% over the prior year. Total operating expenses increased $16 million year-over-year but declined by 200 basis points as a percent of sales. Advertising expense increased by $3 million primarily due to cooperative advertising which is volume dependent. Other selling, general and administrative costs and research and development costs increased by $6 million and $8 million, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. The research and development investment is across all segments and highlights our commitment to product innovation across our diversified business model. Like 2010, we believe that the first quarter will represent the low point for operating margins and with increased sales volumes during the remainder of the year, profitability levels are expected to improve.

Our tax rate in the first quarter was 1.5% driven primarily by the release of reserves related to the expiration of certain statutes for Garmin Europe and lower U.S. reserves provided in 2011 following favorable audits in both 2010 and 2011. We now expect the full year tax rate to be approximately 12%.

Free cash flow generation continued to be strong with $200 million generated in the quarter. We had a cash and marketable securities balance of almost $2.3 billion at the end of the quarter. A portion of this cash will be used to fund our proposed dividend payments throughout the year, as well as our recently announced acquisition of our South Africa distributor.”