I think what the author is trying to say here is that Garmin has a way of making money off them—selling hardware—and thus doesn't need to sell user data as well. Strava has no way of monetizing outside of selling user data.
I'm not sure this is entirely true though, I've seen hardware companies sell out their users for a few bucks. Likewise, Strava has ways to make money from users—via Strava Premium services.
I have no idea how well these particular companies handle data specifically so it's hard to say.
In addition to membership fees, Strava also gets revenue from marketing partnerships. Brands pay them to set up custom "challenges" which Strava users join to try and win prizes or contribute to charity. They also have sponsored integrations with several device vendors so that every activity you record with one of those devices is a clickable ad.
Curious about which part of my post you think is false. Perhaps you didn’t read my entire post and just blindly posted before you got the the second paragraph?
I'm not sure this is entirely true though, I've seen hardware companies sell out their users for a few bucks. Likewise, Strava has ways to make money from users—via Strava Premium services.
I have no idea how well these particular companies handle data specifically so it's hard to say.