Suunto is a leading designer and manufacturer of sports instruments for training, diving, mountaineering, hiking, skiing, sailing and golf. Suunto is today the world's biggest compass manufacturer. Prized for their design, accuracy and dependability, Suunto sports instruments combine the aesthetics and functionality of watches with sport-specific computers that help athletes at all levels analyze and improve performance.
Headquartered in Vantaa, Finland, Suunto employs more than 500 people worldwide and distributes its products to nearly 60 countries. The company is a subsidiary of Helsinki-based Amer Sports Corporation with the sister brands Wilson, Salomon, Atomic, Precor and Mavic.
Suunto was founded in 1936 by outdoors man and a keen orienteering enthusiast Tuomas Vohlonen, who had long been bothered by a problem: the inaccuracy of traditional dry compasses and their lack of steady needle operation. Being an engineer with an inventive turn of mind, he discovered and patented the production method for a much steadier needle, better readings and a new level of accuracy.
Already by 1950 the company was exporting compasses to over 50 countries around the world, including Canada and the United States. In 1952 Helsinki was hosting the Olympic Games, and the torches carried to light the Olympic flame were Suunto products.
The next developing step was improving the stability and accuracy of marine compasses. The first marine compass, Suunto K-12, was launched onto the market in 1953. Couple of years later, in 1957, Suunto started manufacturing hypsometers, which measure the height of trees.
In 1960s the compass range grew further, and Suunto introduced its first diving compass - initiated by the divers themselves. A British sports diver attached a Suunto compass to his wrist, and found that the device also worked underwater. Thanks to his feedback and initiatives, the new business category was found!
In the following years Suunto's exports and business grew steadily. Suunto focused on combining its strength in precision mechanics with new skills in electronics. Accuracy, reliability, and ruggedness have been Suunto's key values from the very beginning of the company history.
In 1987 saw the appearance of what was later to prove the seed of much of the company's later growth, with the start of mass production of the SME dive computer. Previously, the diver had to calculate the safety duration of a dive and decompression time with help of diving tables. Now, a small computer and its algorithms could help take care of safety.
A dive computer that fits on the wrist, combined with an electronic compass, Suunto Spyder, provided the foundation for Suunto's next market conquest, the Suunto Vector in 1998. The Suunto Vector wristop computer was designed for outdoor leisure use. It measures air pressure, and therefore altitude, and helps in predicting changes in the weather as well as it displays direction and time.
The Suunto Vector paved the way for the next generation of wristop computers that were developed in the new millennium. In 2004 Suunto introduced Suunto D9, the first unit that combined a dive computer and digital compass.
In the same year Suunto entered a new field with the first training products, the Suunto t6, a heart rate monitor which gives sports laboratory -quality measurements on training and its effects on the user's fitness. The Suunto t6 was followed with the whole series of training products last year. The new heart rate monitors help users achieve fitness and performance goals with intelligent, real-time information and advice.
During 2007 Suunto introduced a new series of Outdoor sports instruments: Suunto Core and Suunto Lumi. The Suunto Core combines the Suunto heritage with a contemporary design direction and offers the advanced ABC - altimeter, barometer and compass - functions. Suunto Lumi is the first female outdoor instrument specifically made for women and also designed by women.
