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Important Announcement From White's Electronics


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I just received this email!

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Important Information from White's Electronics

June 18, 2020

To our valued White's Dealers-

This is a very difficult message to write, but the time has come for retirement from White's Electronics.

We are suspending manufacturing operations at our Sweet Home facility while we re-evaluate the future of the company. It is never easy to make these decisions, however, we are faced with the reality of intense competition in the industry and ongoing counterfeit instruments coming from China. Lastly, there have been critical material shortages since the Covid 19 shutdown that we now find insurmountable.

All of us here in Sweet Home are grateful for your service. We consider each you part of the White's extended family.

Sincerely, 


Ken White

American Made Metal Detectors since 1950

 

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Wow a sad day. Another one lost to the history books. Can't say it wasn't anticipated, after seeing Tesoro go under I had a feeling - as I am sure others did - that Whites was the next in the line of market vulnerability.

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Wow is right. It is not 100% saying they are gone, but sure does not sound good. And unfortunately not unexpected. I figured they were next out of the remaining players that might take a fall. Both Garrett and especially FT have modern manufacturing facilities and White's Achilles Heel is high cost designs that are basically hand made, compared to First Texas, for instance, stamping stuff out in a brand new modern high tech facility. The brain drain of the last few years was also severe - COVID was just the last straw.

I wish everyone at White's well and hope everyone lands on their feet somewhere. I also hope somebody buys the name or at least the IP so some legacy of the company can continue in some form. If Kenny is retiring, he can reap quite a bit from the patents and such at the very least.

But wow, my first metal detector was a White's Coinmaster 4 purchased in 1972, and I was a premier White's dealer for many years. I've a lot of history with the company and have known many of the people who work there for a long time. I am very sad indeed to see them go.

Steve Herschbach

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Again another sad day. My first dealings with Whites was the Coinmaster V Supreme. I, like many others, followed them right up to the DFX. For me, the only machines I really felt were groundbreaking in the way I hunted, was that Coinmaster V (NO more hot rocks YEAHHHH!) and the Eagle Spectrum. After they went too digital sounding, so I left for Minelab. It's sad to see them go, but in this day and age, you have to reinvent yourself and listen and address your customers needs. Detecting is so competitive today that we search for the newest technology to give us a better chance of finding what we are looking for. The good old days of hitting a park and having a fist full of silver and Indians are over. New technology might  have saved them though. Good luck to all of them.

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Bad news indeed. While he did not close the door in the notice, we all know it is over.

The fact they've stopped production alone is the truth teller. I feel bad for all the people that recently purchased the newer detectors. There is not going to be any support for all those "warranties". While it has been talked about a while on forums about their inability to change, this is verification of what not adapting to change equals in the metal detector manufacturing world- The End, sadly.

I'm not happy about it at all,  Whites did make some really robust machines.  But like Steve mentioned there was brain drain and an old manufacturing process still in place. I don't think COVID-19 was the final nail at all. I believe the final nail was hammered in some time ago when they refused to adapt and change their machines to meet market and buyer demand.  Sad to see an American company famous for metal detectors fold up.

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This is quite sad. I am new to detecting but really appreciate products made here in the US.  I was on the fence about what detector to buy next between the 24k and the Equinox800 but I guess my decision had been made for me...

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Their whole business model was build stuff for $100 and then sell it to distributors who would sell it to dealers who would sell it to users.

User price $600. Their profits were likely not extreme, the distribution channel ate up all the money.

The distributors are mostly or completely gone. The dealers likewise.

The remaining companies have leaner distribution models, and the future is likely direct manufacturer to customer.

Problem is that the manufacturers aren’t used to this either and are struggling with how to do this. Openness, transparency etc. great ideas but hard to achieve.

Wow - still have an IDX Pro with mods - pretty sure I will keep it - heck I just bought a like new Tesoro Pantera.

Folks pay millions for classic models of all kinds of stuff which were the product of long vanished companies.

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Bad day to see them go. I grew up using Whites detectors, my first was the 6 DB. Found many silver coins with it. My first Barber Quarter I found with it a 1905, I can remember it like it was yesterday. My dad found a seated dime the same day using a 6000 D. For me Whites started falling behind in the 90's so I went to the Fisher CZ 6a and then Minelab when the Sovereign came out.

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