Is Cobra Redefining Iron Price?

[Canadan]

After seeing many of the new iron prices for late 2019 and 2020 reach pretty significant dollar values, I can't help but notice Cobra's price points on two of their new releases.

The Forged Tec at 1,100.
T-Rail at 899.

What do you think this represents;

-A company looking to gain traction in a flooded market?
-A new price precedent moving forward?

It's hard to argue that they are not as tech forward as most. All kinds of moving parts to create such designs. They are a good 300-500 cheaper than some similar designs.

 

[Jman]

I was literally just thinking about making a thread on this after seeing the T-Rail thread. Stop it.

I think its a company trying to make a move to defy the trend, and by doing so garner more eyes and tries.

Honestly, its worked for Tour Edge to a more extreme extent, so I think this could be a big boon to Cobra and slot them in nicely between, in that realm where the world and internet cant say its cheap so it cant be good, but also cant run with its too expensive.

 

[MWard]

Looks like pricing that gets the buyer to pause for a minute and ponder. Brand new, and noticeably cheaper than the competition? I mean.. I’ll take a swing.

 

[Canadan]

I was literally just thinking about making a thread on this after seeing the T-Rail thread. Stop it.

I think its a company trying to make a move to defy the trend, and by doing so garner more eyes and tries.

Honestly, its worked for Tour Edge to a more extreme extent, so I think this could be a big boon to Cobra and slot them in nicely between, in that realm where the world and internet cant say its cheap so it cant be good, but also cant run with its too expensive.

I thought pretty hard about including Tour Edge, but I am just not sure the presentation between the two companies is equitable.

Maybe in market share?

 

[Jman]

I thought pretty hard about including Tour Edge, but I am just not sure the presentation between the two companies is equitable.

Maybe in market share?

Maybe, @JB would know better there.

I only brought them up because its a similar notion, pushing back against the trend, but not sacrificing tech one single iota, but its more staying in "tweener" land. I really think its potentially a very beneficial move for Cobra.

 

[JB]

Looks like pricing that gets the buyer to pause for a minute and ponder. Brand new, and noticeably cheaper than the competition? I mean.. I’ll take a swing.

The million dollar question is does price make a golfer stand up and pay attention? It never has before, right?

I thought pretty hard about including Tour Edge, but I am just not sure the presentation between the two companies is equitable.

Maybe in market share?

No, Cobra is pretty in front of Tour Edge currently.

 

[mjkladis]

Cobra has always been competitive with their club performance, looks, and pricing. I think Cobra has a better presence than Tour Edge with mainstream golfers though. I love that Cobra is staying lower with their prices. The market could start to tilt in their favor VERY soon.

 

[mjkladis]

The million dollar question is does price make a golfer stand up and pay attention? It never has before, right?

Lower price but high-end performance is what got me to look at Cobra again before I joined THP. I remember being frustrated at myself for dropping a lot of cash on a new driver in 2015 then CRUSHING a Fly-Z at a demo day that was less expensive than my driver.

 

[MWard]

The million dollar question is does price make a golfer stand up and pay attention? It never has before, right?



No, Cobra is pretty in front of Tour Edge currently.

When drivers started creeping above 500, I think we all paid attention a little more. I think if Cobra’s built something solid and with what is perceived to be premium materials but at an affordable price, it’ll make people ponder at least a look. That being said, if it looks cheap, it’ll be perceived as cheap.

 

[AnthonyC]

I hope they crush it as a message to the other companies, and to golfers looking for high performance with fair pricing.

 

[dacatalyst41]

I hope it's a sign of things to come. Making quality products more accessible will help to grow the game. Good to see it happening with releases that aren't short on tech.

 

[JB]

When drivers started creeping above 500, I think we all paid attention a little more. I think if Cobra’s built something solid and with what is perceived to be premium materials but at an affordable price, it’ll make people ponder at least a look. That being said, if it looks cheap, it’ll be perceived as cheap.

Im asking genuinely, because the top 3 selling drivers off course are $529, $549 and $499.
What is interesting though is the top selling irons off course are both under $1000.

 

[JDax]

I think that Cobra has always been priced competitively, their brand is more known than someone like Tour Edge. I think that their pricing strategy is really in the sweet spot of where they want to be, I think that they see themselves in the same tier as Callaway, TaylorMade, etc. (Not Tour Edge). I know that it's a small lens, but the Dick's I sometimes work at sold a ton of Cobra gear when their full line was regularly stocked at my store. Last year, Cobra was replaced by Tommy Armour at my store and it was a sad day.

 

[jdtox]

I don't think Cobra has enough attention to buck the trend of rising prices as a whole. However kudos to them for having some amazing technology at really good prices. People really should take notice

 

[BuckNasty]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Cobra always been very competitively priced while also packing in a ton of tech in their clubs? No idea how they are able to keep prices reasonable as compared to competitors, but my guess is those competitors have analysis that show they will get the same market share at that increased rate so why not squeeze as much profit out of the consumer as possible.

If Cobra did all of a sudden bump up their prices to the range of some of their competitors I would imagine it would be tough for them to maintain market share, as other companies have a pretty good stranglehold on market share in that next tier up in price (Taylormade/Callaway/etc.)

 

[MWard]

Im asking genuinely, because the top 3 selling drivers off course are $529, $549 and $499.
What is interesting though is the top selling irons off course are both under $1000.

Do you think that’s from marketing and those companies really pushing the advances in their tech with regards to making drivers faster and more forgiving/better ball speed retention, and then in irons it’s kind of meh? I can’t tell you the last iron commercial on tv. So why spend 1300 when I can spend sub 1k and it’s still probably an upgrade from the last set of irons the buyer has had? (THP’ers notwithstanding)

 

[Paladin]

Cobra enjoys an advantage of tour presence that other brands (Tour Edge most notably) can't hang with. In addition, I'd say that Cobra is competitive easily as a top 5 manufacturer. The thing is that, all things being equal they could sell their equipment for a price that sits very much in line with the rest of the top 5 manfacturers and not many would notice. I don't think they're big enough in market share to move the window to their price point, and they've generally been 10% or so less than the industry norms. I wonder if they're worried at this point their share would erode if they brought their prices up to industry norms. I won't lie, part of why I like Cobra is their value on both the primary and secondary markets relative to the quality of their product.

 

[Canadan]

Cobra enjoys an advantage of tour presence that other brands (Tour Edge most notably) can't hang with. In addition, I'd say that Cobra is competitive easily as a top 5 manufacturer. The thing is that, all things being equal they could sell their equipment for a price that sits very much in line with the rest of the top 5 manfacturers and not many would notice. I don't think they're big enough in market share to move the window to their price point, and they've generally been 10% or so less than the industry norms. I wonder if they're worried at this point their share would erode if they brought their prices up to industry norms. I won't lie, part of why I like Cobra is their value on both the primary and secondary markets relative to the quality of their product.

Well, hollow body is a serious conversation out there right now, and they've recently produced a head that competes with some very expensive offerings out there, ones that have sold brilliantly.

Does this year change the whole spectrum? It's not M5/M6 vs F9 Speedback. It's P790 vs Forged Tec.

I think it's a big difference this coming year.

 

[gkeller813]

Maybe they are focusing on themselves and what they perceive as a fair price to the customers. They aren't trying to squeeze out as much profit as then can, but rather a quality product at a fair price. They are looking more inward at themselves, instead of benchmarking against their competitors. I think you need to stay up with trends, materials, etc., but if you put the customer and their best interests in mind maybe you can gain trust and confidence in your brand with those shopping. I personally want to buy from a company that doesnt price gouge for the sake of more profit. I perceive value as important as I do performance.

 

[Sox_Fan]

I believe it is more of gaining traction than setting a new precedent. Unless the likes of Callaway, Titleist and Taylor Made see significant market share erosion to Cobra's pricing strategy, which I believe is unlikely, I don't think they will follow suit just to keep up.

 

[Canadan]

I believe it is more of gaining traction than setting a new precedent. Unless the likes of Callaway, Titleist and Taylor Made see significant market share erosion to Cobra's pricing strategy, which I believe is unlikely, I don't think they will follow suit just to keep up.

I'm not sure how much more erosion Titleist can really deal with in iron market share.

 

[DataDude]

I wish that was the case. I bet the signal they are sending to uninformed consumers however is that they are an inferior product. If we don't start rewarding the Cobra's and the Tour Edge's of the world with sales when they release well priced equipment and instead buy the higher priced stuff we complain about, then we have no one to blame but ourselves for the ever increasing prices.

 

[JB]

I'm not sure how much more erosion Titleist can really deal with in iron market share.

Yes, right now off course Cobra is ahead of Titleist in iron sales, and by quite a bit. Combined on and off, I would say that it gets closer though.

 

[Just_Brad]

I don't think that price alone makes someone notice a product.

If performance is similar between the items, then the price (in my case) will win out.

I like what Cobra is doing. You can only sell so many $1600 iron sets and $700 drivers. The mid range price and lower end price market needs decent options as well, instead of weird re-hashes of lines from other OEMs.

 

[Paladin]

Well, hollow body is a serious conversation out there right now, and they've recently produced a head that competes with some very expensive offerings out there, ones that have sold brilliantly.

Does this year change the whole spectrum? It's not M5/M6 vs F9 Speedback. It's P790 vs Forged Tec.

I think it's a big difference this coming year.

The thing is, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with someone who works at Edwin Watts about selling irons, and he mentioned that very few people walk in and say, "I heard about hollow-body players distance irons, let's have a look at some." They say, "I want the new TaylorMade P790's because I'm a TaylorMade guy and those things look sweet." From there it's kinda on the player to want their mind changed. If I've already got it in my head that I'm ready to spent $1300 on a set of irons, because I like TaylorMade irons and those are what I want because those are the best, Cobra has to do more than be "about the same" and $200 cheaper to change minds.

Something else, because I've watched a lot of comparison videos and reviews and people seem to really like the Forged Tec irons, but the moment I'm on the internet for golf stuff, I enter a much smaller layer of the golfing onion. So I agree that the conversations about how Cobra's irons hang with anyone elses while being a couple hundred less are good and help move Cobra foward as a brand in the eyes of golfing nerds like you and me. I'm just not sure it does it for the rest of the golfing world that doesn't give a turd about what some internet golfer like you and me has to say about it.