Fisher Multi Frequency Release In 2022

[phrunt]

They seemed to dominate the low end detector market at the big box stores in the US along with Garrett with their detectors but now the other brands are going after that market with very good machines for the lower prices, far superior machines to the First Texas models. 

All this was very predictable and was only a matter of time. 

I think they'll survive just fine as they make a lot of things other than detectors and they'll just keep their detectors on the market selling as they are not too concerned about them as they've long recovered development costs so any sale now is a good sale, I just think new models are less likely and expecting anything ground breaking from them is very unlikely as they don't seem to have the desire to do it.

They may just fade into the background as just another detector company, there are many manufacturers of detectors we never talk about, the forums mostly talk about high end machines and brands that produce them, with the generic sort of brands producing only the beginners and entry level type detectors never get talked about, most of us couldn't even name many of those sort of brands but there are plenty of them and First Texas still makes better detectors than many of those brands so they still have a place in the market, they're just being left further behind when it comes to detectors most on this forum would be looking to buy, but the entry level market may well be a very good one for all we know.

[Mark Gillespie]

On 3/31/2023 at 1:22 PM, phrunt said:

I thought @Geotech said they're not working on anything that he knows of...  ?

It doesn't help they struggled to get the Impulse out the door, and if they can get the Impulse Gold to market that would be a good start though, I have high hopes for that reaching the market and if it comes in at a good price it has potential.

A multi frequency T2/F75 type detector would be pretty good though, and others have been able to do it when it was once thought Minelab had it all patented up.  It's one detector other than making it carbon fiber and putting a more modern interface and screen on it I wouldn't overly want them to change the design of the shaft, arm cuff and handle.  It'd be a good idea to move the power/volume knob though 🙂

 

When I first heard 1st Texas was working on a multi-frequency was about 6 years ago.  I'm assuming Carl is the one you are talking about above so he would know but might not could say.  Well anyway, I guess they abandoned those projects for the AQ that was released.  It's hard to compete against the larger companies that have a huge engineering staff. 

[GB_Amateur]

On 4/1/2023 at 2:22 PM, phrunt said:

(First Texas Products) seemed to dominate the low end detector market at the big box stores in the US along with Garrett with their detectors but now the other brands are going after that market with very good machines for the lower prices, far superior machines to the First Texas models.

On 4/1/2023 at 2:22 PM, phrunt said:

...There are many manufacturers of detectors we never talk about, the forums mostly talk about high end machines and brands that produce them, with the generic sort of brands producing only the beginners and entry level type detectors never get talked about, most of us couldn't even name many of those sort of brands but there are plenty of them....

Nokta, Minelab, and Quest (to name three respected (?) companies who seem to be releasing low priced but relatively high performing detectors) making a big impact in the generic marketplace (Walmart, Amazon, and their parallels around the world) might not be as obvious as it sounds to us here who understand way more about detectors than the typical consumer.  Consider someone entering (or viewing) one of these outlets looking for a Christmas gift.  Do they have a clue about the relative performance characteristics of these "big boys'" products?  If not, why couldn't an unproven, unknown cheapo brand look just as good performance-wise AND still beat those in price?  You can argue "you get what you pay for" until blue in the face, but there are so many examples of lower quality products eliminating their quality brethren simply because their price advantage was too seductive for the average cash-strapped consumer to ignore.

[phrunt]

That's where marketing works, getting their name to be household name not just an industry name, Garrett has done that to an extent especially in USA, Minelab has done a fantastic job of it in our part of the world, Aussie Gold Hunters is a well known show, on prime time TV, very few people haven't seen it and it's one of the more popular shows around and mostly to people who have never metal detected, it's all been about Minelab and has Minelab advertisements in the commercial breaks.  Brand recognition works.

There are other things on these detector boxes that sound appealing, waterproof, vibrating handles, flash lights,shrinking shafts, all things someone with no idea about detecting would see as appealing.

There is also appearance, the boxes of the detectors being pretty or professional looking helps too. Wild claims about performance or usage purposes are on the boxes though.

From what I've seen this is the most popular cheap detector in NZ from our biggest electronics chain store as we don't have First Texas cheapies here.

Ideal for beach combing and prospecting they say... prospecting if the gold is almost a gram in mild soil, and beach combing if you only hunt dry sand.  Not only is it a popular seller it is often available on the second hand market cheap from buyers who didn't like it or detecting after buying it.

The cheap market is a tough one to crack due to claims like that on detectors not capable for the task they're saying they are so brand recognition is more important than ever in the entry level market.