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White’s Electronics Done After 70 Years


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18 minutes ago, Geotech said:

I keep wondering, who? I can say with confidence it ain't FTP. Minelab was interested 10-12 years ago, but I can't imagine they would still be interested now, they are so far beyond what White's has. Garrett now has the Apex platform to build off of, so not much there for them, either. Nokta/Makro? It would be a huge stretch for them to want a US manufacturing facility, and there is again not much IP that would interest them. I do know that a price I heard for selling the company 10 years ago was about 10X the real value, and I suspect that will be the case now. I will be surprised if there is a whole buy-out, I expect it will end in a big auction.

So has Howard left the company or is he still there ?

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9 minutes ago, auminesweeper said:

I remember when you left and that worried me back then being the start of something bad, I know you had to go but you were the last great thing about the company, And you were always there to help and answer dumb questions,  That said it's a good thing you left when you did and still play a major part in the hobby today,

I didn't know that about the family, I knew about the other person and his attitude along with a few other bits, I just don't get how those is power can not see the negative input their actions have on a company

J.

6 years ago White's was a single decision away from a very different outcome. But it's company with a long history of missed opportunities.

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17 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

But Ken may be a “by God, I’ll take nothing before I’ll sell to the Chinese” type. Whatever, it’s all just blah blah blah anyway. Time will tell.

Actually, he'd rather take nothing than take any less than 75% of value. And I doubt the Chinese would pay for anything at all. They'll just start using the White's name & logo without paying for it.

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26 minutes ago, Geotech said:

Actually, he'd rather take nothing than take any less than 75% of value. And I doubt the Chinese would pay for anything at all. They'll just start using the White's name & logo without paying for it.

Our conversation perfectly illustrates the difference in thinking between engineers and sales/marketing types! :laugh:

Ken’s mistake would be in thinking anything is worth more than it can be sold for. Things are only worth what they can get on the open market, nothing more. What he has invested or emotional value is meaningless to anyone but him.

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1 hour ago, Geotech said:

I started there in 2008 and already a former intern had been hired on as full-time. I brought in another intern and also hired another former intern. I suspect you simply didn't reach the right person. The front office was sometimes not cognizant of engineering needs, you'd need to get all the way to the Engineering manager (probably was Mark Rowan at the time).

I both called on the phone, and I visited the front office in person later too, both with identical results. I didn't demand a higher up though, I was young at the time and took people at face value. I had met a White's product tester on the OSU campus who detected the campus early in the mornings and he told me to speak to someone at White's about leaving a resume with them, a guy who's name I forget now, and that's who I spoke to on the phone. Then I spoke to a guy in the front office later on my way to prospect for gold in Quartzville. It's been 16 years so I forget who they were exactly, or if they were the same person.

It kinda breaks my heart to learn that they did accept interns, if so. I was practically pleading with the guy to let me work for free, just to get a foot in the business, when I showed up in person. White's was my #1 job choice, I lived in Corvallis right near them and was an active detector user already, and I figured I'd have a sure shot since everyone else was vying for positions at Intel and HP at OSU after graduation, and my field of research was literally E+M and applied physics which I thought would be a shoe in for detector work.

When I couldn't even get someone there to look at my resume, I wrote them off and never looked back.

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5 hours ago, auminesweeper said:

I feel sorry for the whites family, But this is what happens when people are put in charge who have their own agenda,

 

2 hours ago, Geotech said:

You're feeling sorry for the wrong people. The family was very much the root of the problem. Lots of people tried to steer the company away from the rocks but with no success. I was still there at the start of the MX Sport, I argued against the mechanical design as being way too bulky but a big pod and 8AA batteries were must-haves, along with that "White's sound" (bonk-bonk). No, the people to feel sorry for are the employees, who were the best bunch of people I've ever worked with.

Yup, the buck stops at the top. If a family was to put somebody in place that runs something based in their own agenda... that’s on the family. I was and am still a business owner, and every horrible thing done by any employee I ever had ultimately was my fault, because I hired them. If they did stuff I did not know about, that’s on me for not looking. Never give business owners and managers a pass. Never. When I hear business owners making excuses and passing the buck to others under them, I just gag. What drivel. But hey, dodging responsibility is a national sport these days.

The big box, big meter, went all the way back to Ken White Sr. He took a circuit board and put it in a big box with a big meter. Then put the same board in a bigger box with a bigger meter and sold it for more money. And then he would put it in a bigger box still, and I’m not kidding... add another huge meter! And sell it for even more money. Size equating to perceived value is in the White’s DNA.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/3688-whites-electronics-visit-and-a-new-v3i/

whites-electronics-nugget-master.jpg

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5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Somehow I must have missed that post since I don't remember it.  (OK, I admit I don't remember as much as I used to....)  Even young Tom looks older now after his 2-3 years working there.  🤔 

The one thing that always intrigued me about the V3i was the graphs.  You here might have noticed I really love graphs/plots.  "A picture is worth a thousand words."  When I bought my F75 the V3i was in the running.  The price and the weight are what ended up ruling it out.  I did get a chance to try one once, owned by a detectorist I know.  But he was swooping over my shoulder like a vulture with every swing, telling me what I was doing wrong.  When I asked him about fine tuning, given its myriad of options, he said he just left it in default.  Later he said he had traded in a DFX for it and often regretted that move.  I figured at the time that said more about him than the detector.  (Not that everyone has to like the latest and greatest 'flagship'.)

One less player in the game now, but we still have some good ones and Nokta/Makro, which I don't think even existed the last time White's released a cutting edge detector, has been steady in their progress.  Garrett has a new model coming out this summer which (on paper) shows a lot of promise.  The Fisher Impulse AQ 'prototype' is in the hands of detectorists as we write.  Minelab powers on in their bullying ways, obstinate in not responding to their loyal customers' questions and wishes but still occasionally providing detectors we can't refuse.  If you can get a QED it appears you'll really have something.  Aftermarket coil makers (so far) have weathered the storm. 

Bottom line:  the cup is at least half full.

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I think you are being too kind to them because those of us who have been detecting for quite a while know not to buy a 150 dollar GMT or a 400 dollar GPX 5000 and it is only a few that are new to the hobby that get caught out by buying fakes, Plus the fact that a lot of newbies come to forums and ask what detector they should buy and they are nearly always warned of buying cheap detectors on line and this happens on every forum at leased once or twice a week,

Baring in mind that most newbies are introduced to the hobby by someone with greater knowledge and the only people who will buy these cheap fakes are those who won't listen or those who go it alone, on average 95% users will only buy genuine machines through preferred dealers, Not once in all my years of detecting have I ever bought one fake item,,

White's current market position is down to not listening to those who knew better and not listening to customers wants and needs, Know it All's are their worst enemies, I tried to warn whites of the damage they were doing during the MXS wars but they would not listen and all I got was BS emails and insults in return and from that day onwards I never promoted another White's product and very rarely got involved in discussions of their products, Along with the lies I got told I have never bought another one of their products, There are a couple of other good solid American Detector companies that are more than welcome to my money who are more deserving as far as I am concerned,

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