Why was Mag not at Shot Show 2005?

[Streak]

My understanding, confirmed by the list of exhibitors, was that for the first time Mag did not have a stand at this year's Shot Show.

Anyone care to speculate why?


Streak

 

[Cornkid]

I think the introduction of newer LED lights and brighter incandescents threw Maglite out of the running.

-tom

 

[ABTOMAT]

Maybe they've decided that audience is no longer worth going after, with the recent explosion of tactical and LEO-style lights from other companies. You don't see many folks duct-taping 3C Mags to their guns anymore.

 

[cratz2]

Yeah, in all honesty, they were probably just throwing their money away anyway.

They probably figured out over the last two or thee years not one single person walked up and said, "You know that new black MAG 2D light you guys just came out with, the focusing feature is so great. And the output blows away my Surefires!"

 

[270winchester]

[ QUOTE ]
cratz2 said:
Yeah, in all honesty, they were probably just throwing their money away anyway.

They probably figured out over the last two or thee years not one single person walked up and said, "You know that new black MAG 2D light you guys just came out with, the focusing feature is so great. And the output blows away my Surefires!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh man I think I just died laughing... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kernalpanic]

more likely people kept going up and saying

"so when are you going to make bright flashlights and flash lights that run for 2 days straight?"


a freind of mine just left here. he wanted to check out my rechargeable maxfire xenon. we jawed flashlights for awhile and he made a very accurate statement about Mag instruments. they are dinosaurs. sure 12 or 13 years ago when i was security guard they were great but the rest of the flash light world has evolved and they are stuck in the 1980s.

http://www.maglite.com/eventtimeline.asp

read their history not ONE NOT ONE new product in 14 years between 1988 and 2002!

surefire, brinkmann, dorcy, and stream light anre going to bury them.

 

[UncleFester]

"surefire, brinkmann, dorcy, and stream light anre going to bury them."

Man, I hope not. Their lights make pretty good and cheap hosts for a lot of cool configurations. I'd hate to see them belly up or make pricy lights that can't be modded.
Just my $0.02

 

[Streak]

Or, maybe they have eventually "seen the light", come up with some cool LED stuff but and are waiting for the IWA show in Germany to launch them???
Wishful thinking?

 

[PhotonBoy]

Maybe all their energy is being focused on building and completing their new factory in California. I imagine it's highly automated to be able to compete with low-cost Chinese manufacturers.

I bet they still rely on people making simple buying decisions in stores based on years of habit. Eventually, this strategy will fail once LEDs are indisputably brighter, better focused and longer lasting. In a couple or three years, LEDs will have won and the public will finally wake up. Maybe it will take a major movie or TV show to capture the public's attention and start a new buying trend.

 

[MrBenchmark]

Now it's possible that they haven't done anything really innovative in a while because they need that new factory to build nifty new light designs, as well as keep up with their current products. So it may be they haven't done anything lately because they couldn't build enough of 'em to matter anyway.

I think there's another possiblity, though. I don't mean this in a negative way, but it seems as if they've perhaps become a marketing company, rather than an engineering company.

As a marketing company they would rely on their patents and branding to keep 'em going (both powerful things). So maybe they've just stopped worrying about R&D - it's an expense they don't need, and are totally marketing driven. Lots of big companies are like this. It may well be that they will introduce new lights when they can find a design they want to buy.

I do wonder how wise it is to build a state of the art factory to build a product that was designed 25 years ago. But hey - what do I know?

 

[MrBenchmark]

Bah! Mr.Benchmark is stupid! I got it all wrong.

I looked over their empolyment ads. One that caught my eye was:
Laborer, Chip Handler. Oooh - they are going to use chips! But then I read it - "Use shovel and pitchfork, clear chip jams from high-speed machine." OK, chips of aluminum I guess.

Under engineering, it says they are actively recruiting engineers to automate their processes. It says they have a backlog of over 60 engineering projects to let them build their lights ever more cheaply, because they've committed to never raising their prices.

So it really looks like they are a manufacturing company, through and through. It sure sounds like they are really going all out to build an automated facility to build their lights. Wow. I wish them well, but - wow.

They aren't a publicly held company either, are they?

 

[McGizmo]

My gut tells me that the new factory will manufacture a new light. If local stores are any indication, I believe Mag has lost market share and I don't think they will try to gain it back by inproving efficiency and reducing the prices on current designs. I believe their current product is priced reasonably and it is an issue of the out dated design. It is going to be real interesting to see what comes out of the new plant! I think it would be a mistake to write Mag off! Just ask yourself, why the new plant?!?! To meet growing demand of existing product? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif I say to be able to cost effectively bring something new to market.

IMHO, Mag has done some significant damage to domestic flashlight manufacture and I hope they can redeem themselves! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

 

[Mark2]

I think Don is right, Mag is preparing something new and the new factory is probably where it will be made. We all know that Mag is used to sell the same product for a very long time. If they want to continue that tradition, their LED lights will have to be *very* good... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[ACMarina]

I dunno, Maglite has the commonplace everyday market in a lot of ways. If you were Joe Average and wanted a light that was moderately bright and sturdy, Maglite is the answer. Dorcy's got LEDs, but the sturdy feeling of a Maglite is absent from Dorcy, and IMO they're the only ones in reasonable competition for those who want flashlights running on "Normal" batteries and won't pay what they don't feel it's worth (ie, less than $20.) Plus, the Average Joe isn't going to buy from anyplace online, they're going to WallyMart, where the range of available light is already limited. .

If you could buy an 8 pack of 123 batteries for a couple bucks like you can AAs in most any store, then SF's G2 would be close. But people see "them fancy camera batteries" at the store for $7.99 a pop and just wander back to the Maglite isle. .

 

[DaGeek]

Yep I got a felling that Maglight is going to suprize us all!!

 

[wquiles]

Change is inevitable - change will always happen. I think that if they "join" the LED market, that would be great!

Will

 

[McGizmo]

Mag brings a high quality, domestically produced product at competitive prices to the market. This is not trivial. I condem them for impeding domestic competition through legal and IP channels but that is ultimately beside the point. Their actions have given market share to offshore manufactures and not aided domestic production in the flashlight industry. Presumably they have plans to counter this and in their place in the market where product is a commodity and price the primary driving force, the only way they can enter the LED flashlight market is with augmentation of state of the art, automated production capabilities. To embrace a new technology at this level, I suspect a new production facility would be the best if not the only means; especially if there were no desire to disrupt current production.

It would seem to me that the only solution would be a new and sizeable facility. So, they are building a new and sizeable facility. What is gong to come out of it? The same lights we have seen but at reduced prices or something new at competitive prices? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif For many reasons, I hope the latter......

 

[BentHeadTX]

I don't think Mag is stupid, they delay on new technology as long as possible to keep the price down.

Lambda's MJLED would be perfect for a minimag LED light. They could sell them for under $15 a pop and your average person would be more inclined to buy one. I know I would! Comparible brightness, low cost and extended run times would make the venerable minimag competative again.

Luxeon I and III for the "new" 3C and 3D Mags! A resistor to protect the LS1 and LS3 would make a cheap upgrade that would put the 3D Mag at $29.95 (3C at $26.95) Maybe, just maybe they would change the reflector to cut the rings.

I can see the solitaire needing work and it is stuck with a unique situation. To convert it to LED, it would cost more than the minimag. How they solve that one is beyond me, maybe cut their profit to the bone to make it slightly cheaper.

Now to get back to work on my FlexMag WX1S Luxeon V project.

 

[junior]

You know maglight would not have built a new facility if they were not going to come out with anything new. Mr.Mag himself is not that dumb.

What's interesting is when mag does decide to come out with a new light, you will see a lot of mag bashers buying them like hot cakes.

I for one have always liked regular, yes regular maglights.
I will mod some, but just for the heck of it.

 

[LEDmodMan]

If mag does come out with a new product, I think we all might be surprised at how familiar it is to all of us here. Something tells me that they've been keeping a watchful eye on us modders here at CPF, and using US for their R&D dept. At least they wouldn't be able to patent the ideas. Just a (maybe slightly paranoid) feeling...