[TenTec] Merger

Tue May 20 19:11:45 EDT 2014

I believe one of their strategies is to continue to appeal to the Maker movement... hence the Rebel and now the Patriot.  John Henry has said (via one of the TT reflectors) that they've generated a healthy interest from Makers to where quite a few have gotten their license because of the Rebel.  This tells me they may be projecting a better revenue stream via lower cost designs that use open source hardware (e.g., Arduino) where TT doesn't have to incur the cost of expensive chips to build a radio.  If their design-to-market development cycle can be shortened due to not designing as many an el' primo radios, but instead share the development via social/community involvement for coding - then their margin per unit may very well be significantly better than the higher end radios.   

Hold on to your cans, and don't start screaming into your microphones because I said not as many el' primo radios.  I suspect they'll develop a very nice radio to match the quality and expectations that align with an Alpha product (complete station concept).  However, mid-range radios could be more in-line with the Omni VII as a VII plus, or VIII with a rather long market presence due to the upgradeability of the Omni VII.  John H. just recently mentioned that with a change in the code structure the memory in the Omni VII can be totally readdressed therefore making room for significantly more features.  Now you say... come on Eric, no way...  Well, you have to remember two things:  1. we're getting old, and the younger generations don't have, nor probably will not ever have the spare change to buy a lot of Orion III's like mine (late X-Gen), and your generation has been able too (Baby Boomers, X-Gen's).  2. They have to remain viable as a
 business and to do so, as their customer demographics change so will Ten-Tec.  

So here's W9WLW's crystal ball projection:

Highest margin per unit = Hacker/Maker/Kit  e.g., Rebel, Patriot, etc. (caveat, to do this they'll have to upgrade their way of socializing the community development effort) <Why the Sales Manager mentioned Facebook, and other social media>

Mid-range margin per unit = high end contest grade radio e.g., Orion III  (would have been low range, but they'll be able to ask more per radio if they peg the market correctly and combine the look with an Alpha amp)

Low/Mid-range margin per unit = upgrades, add-on boards, to their current fleet, and accessories 

Low-range margin = mid-range radios such as the Eagle and Omni VII with longer presence on the market (pfft... look at the TS-2000 that radio is over 12 years old in design and still selling for Kenwood)

Please realize I'm not addressing volume per unit of sales, just margins... it's all a guess on my part with some background and understanding on product development.  If TT can engage and get the hacker/makers/kit guys following them; then their revenue could soar based on volume sales with low product development cost.

I shall cover my crystal ball for now, and see how things ride out for RF Concepts.

73

-Eric
W9WLW
http://w9wlw.blogspot.com/ 

>________________________________
> From: Jim Lowman <jmlowman at sbcglobal.net>
>To: tentec at contesting.com 
>Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 6:39 PM
>Subject: Re: [TenTec] Merger
>  
>
>Seriously, how many hams do you think he saw who were of the age 
>demographic to be on Facebook or Twitter?
>I hadn't noticed a lot of young people in the crowd when we were there 
>last year.
>
>I'm on Facebook and, in addition to staying in contact with friends and 
>family who are scattered all over the country, there's a lot of good 
>ham-related stuff on there.
>The QRZ page, for example.  Twitter...well, I have an account, but 
>rarely look at it.
>
>If the new Sales and Marketing Manager thinks that even 50 "likes" on 
>Facebook is significant, he's borderline delusional.
>
>73 de Jim - AD6CW
>
>
>On 5/20/2014 1:23 PM, TTMaven wrote:
>> The new Sales and Marketing Manager delivered a running monolog, 
>> saying TT will focus on Facebook and Twitter feeds ... er... um ... as 
>> if that is a fresh, innovative approach.  He offered no other answer 
>> or approach when asked about it,  saying one could receive as many as 
>> 4 Tweets a day!  Now, I don't do Facebook or Twitter, and I doubt 
>> getting 4 tweets a day from could induce me to buy anything from 
>> anyone; more likely it would chase me off completely.
>>
>> Oh well.   I continue to hope for the best.  Maybe younger hams will 
>> like that approach, but it falls flat on me.  Mr. Coultas said before 
>> he came along, TT had something like 25 Facebook "Likes" - and he has 
>> already doubled that number!   Yeah... that should do it; we are 
>> moving now!
>>
>> That is just MY take... your mileage may differ.
>>
>> ===================== K8JHR  ===================
>
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