I hear all this about how avionics is a tough business, and I get it --
and yet that explanation is not completely satisfying. As others have
pointed out, there are business with lower margins and smaller markets
that seem to get by.

The reason I think about certification is that the non-certified area
of avionics seems to be quite healthy (or is at least not completely
moribund.) Look at the handheld GPS market, the for-kit primary nav
stuff (blue mountain, dynan, etc), EFBs, TCAS-like devices, headsets,
etc.) There is some real competition going on here and some of these
markets are way smaller than that for panel-mount GPS units.

-- dave j