Two-Year Product Cycles

[Bill Talbot]

See if the ONLY change is BNG (bold new graphics), it's the same ski.
But likely fuglier...

 

[Philpug]

Will be interesting to see. I think "Why mess with success?", and it sure seems like like most of their lineup is doing well...The RS/RX and obviously the plug boots. XT has been a big seller, too, hasn't it?

I wonder what the tooling cost is for them to launch a whole new boot, in a full run of sizes? Has to be significant.

Guess we'll see how much is cosmetic, new buckles, new liners versus a real relaunch soon enough. Redoing the RS and "Z" blue boots would surprise me. Big following, huge in kid size soft flex RS.

Interesting....

The current boots have been around for what, 7 years now? Not uncommon for a boot to change at that point. I will say, the back half of the boot could use some attention and besome a little more contoured. Lien still could use some room over the instep. I doubt the Z boots will chance other than cosmetic.

 

[Muleski]

The current boots have been around for what, 7 years now? Not uncommon for a boot to change at that point. I will say, the back half of the boot could use some attention and besome a little more contoured. Lien still could use some room over the instep. I doubt the Z boots will chance other than cosmetic.

Good points....had lost touch of how long it's been. Agree, there is some tweaking that could be done. "Continuous improvement", I guess!

Two winters ago, we had a bunch of U14, U16's and coaches staying with us. A bunch in Lange boots. I had an original XLR of mine in our tuning room. Boot was more than twice as old as any of the kids! Everybody was quite surprised to see how much it had in common with the current boots. Kids were also surprised to hear of the color changes. Pink?Cool!

Will be interested to see what they come up with.

 

[Wasatchman]

Yep my understanding was that they got old model plus some of the half year refresh stuff ( the early release Feb onwards stuff)

I think it may be brand dependent. Last July in New Zealand, K2, Rossi, Nordica, and Armada pretty much had their whole new 2017/2018 lineup. My sense is that New Zealand in general is leading with the new models for the brands that are here.

 

[Turoa Kiwi]

I think that down here in NZ and also Australia we get next northern seasons ski gear first
I believe it suits the brands to use the smaller populations here ,as testers for reactions to their new products , before a full on roll out for their gear in the northern winter season
Blizzard K2 Rossignol Salomon Volkl Armada Line Dynaster Elan Fischer Head Nordica Marker Stoked and othersn are all readily available in shops in Wellington NZ ; 4hrs to the nearest ski field

 

[James]

Well I would think companies aren't going to produce completely new product between June and August. What's done is done and the Southern hemisphere just happens to be ready for it first. So I suppose one could call that testing but the main choice if it was truly awful would be not releasing it in August to the Northern hemisphere.

 

[quant]

WTH, I still don't ski on the tops. The older the tops, the less likely the skis get stolen. The guts of the skis haven't changed for some manufacturers for decades. They keep improving the skis marginally every few years (as we hope), but is the difference that noticeable? For most skiers, it is not. Retooling? Changing shapes by a mm or two? Whatever. The manufacturers think they know what it takes to makes the most money. I was happy skiing on whatever I owned 50 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, and now. So long as the boots fit right, I don't give a damn about ski life cycles.

 

[Beerman]

I'm going to dumb this down a little..............please excuse me.
If Nigel Novice goes into a shop looking to buy his first pair of skis, and sees a pair that have graphics from the last 2-3 seasons, he's going to subconciously think 'these skis are old', why haven't they sold?? The skis may have only been manufactured a month or two prior, but because of the older graphics how does he know?? He's thinking, they haven't sold because they aren't a good ski, I'm going to buy different pair. That may sound simplistic, but there is an underlying phsycology to the buying process, and that is, I don't want a poor/wrong pair of skis.

I agree with the production/budgeting/marketing/stock holding arguments as posted prior, and the cost savings associated with that. It's just not how everyone thinks though.
When you look at other industries like the auto industry, how often is a cosmetic change (new grill, chrome trim etc) used to keep sales up??

Quality will always sell, regardless of the skin it is in. Using the Kastle example, they make a great ski and have kept the graphics the same, so people get farmiliar with it. Once the word is out on how good they are, it's just word of mouth advertising from there on.

 

[Philpug]

You have some good points.

I'm going to dumb this down a little..............please excuse me.
If Nigel Novice goes into a shop looking to buy his first pair of skis, and sees a pair that have graphics from the last 2-3 seasons, he's going to subconciously think 'these skis are old', why haven't they sold?? The skis may have only been manufactured a month or two prior, but because of the older graphics how does he know?? He's thinking, they haven't sold because they aren't a good ski, I'm going to buy different pair. That may sound simplistic, but there is an underlying phsycology to the buying process, and that is, I don't want a poor/wrong pair of skis.

First, Nigel Novice (I am not sure if he is a member here or just lurks ) probably doesn't keep up with what the newest graphics are, especially when many of the changes are very subtle.

I agree with the production/budgeting/marketing/stock holding arguments as posted prior, and the cost savings associated with that. It's just not how everyone thinks though.
When you look at other industries like the auto industry, how often is a cosmetic change (new grill, chrome trim etc) used to keep sales up??

I agree it is nto the way everyone thinks and who's fault is that? The manufacturers because they are the ones who went away from the longer cycles in the first place.

As far as the automotive world, many manufactures are on 4 year (minimum) product cyles with usually the first change being after 2 years. Plus they are required to have production dates on their product/VIN numbers.

Quality will always sell, regardless of the skin it is in. Using the Kastle example, they make a great ski and have kept the graphics the same, so people get farmiliar with it. Once the word is out on how good they are, it's just word of mouth advertising from there on.

Yep, that is one of the reasons I used them.

 

[Joe Strummer]

Retail pricing risk is borne by the retailer. Retail prices are at a peak at the beginning of the season and at their lowest at the end. Typically, a retailer buys a product for 50% of the retail price, giving them a 50% margin on retail prices to cover their costs. If he estimates demand correctly, he sells all his skis at the beginning of the season. If he overestimates demand he is left with surplus inventory which he then discounts to sell. The retail price discounts are not borne by manufactures. Hence, they have no incentive to keep the same graphics year-in-year-out. They got their money at the beginning of the season.

Also, changing graphics allows manufactures to increase wholesale prices as their costs rise.