We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Has Callaway 2017 become the new TaylorMade?

SuperStroke
I think it doesn't really matter either way. Its not like Taylormade is going belly up. They are still selling tons of clubs and their ball business is super hot right now. They have a new ownership group and they will make them profitable again. Callaway is winning the retail battle right now and probably will for the near future but I wouldn't expect them to put themselves in the position Taylormade did or actually have the run Taylormade did. The golf club industry is never going to be what it was in the early 2000's when Tiger was at his peak and bringing tons of new people into the game.
 
As long as Callaway keeps putting out the Apex line I could care less about anything else they do. That line is sooooo good. And no for most of the reasons stated before I don’t think they’re going down the same road as TM. Plus, for me the biggest reason TM got in trouble is they marketed every club as 10 yards longer than the last. I don’t see any manufacturer doing that anymore. Most people know now distance is maxed out.
 
Tons of great points have been made in this thread so I won't rehash them all.

For me the biggest difference between Callaway today and Taylormade of yesterday is that Callaway doesn't blur all their releases together. Not for a second did I think the Steelheads were replacing the Apex or the Fusion replacing the Alpha.
Also, Taylormade hanging their hat on weight forward (low launch + spin) showed that they had lost touch with the average consumer.
 
Canadan said:
I don't see the downfall of TaylorMade being a reflection of releases and their frequency, I see it as a reduced quality release and FAR too much inventory to maintain and profit on. Fortunately for us, the latest and greatest from TM has far exceeded their low point (SLDR/JetSpeed) and are once again producing an effective product.

For Callaway, I say the more the better. As long as their inventory management makes sense, and the products are different, I think the story reads MUCH differently.
Click to expand...

I really like this post. There is a distinct difference in each company's design. I think when TM bought out Adams, they almost tried to make themselves look like the "pro's clubs" company and didn't cater as effectively to the everyman golfer. That had a lot to do with their downfall imo.
 
Honestly don't care. I'm going to upgrade when I see fit and let the brains in charge of these companies figure it out. Brands rise and fall, and in some cases disappear entirely. And I never consider my trade-in value when buying clubs because its always garbage. I tend to give my "old" clubs to friends locally for a song.

Also, the "Double Dong" line made me laugh out loud to the point my wife asked what was wrong with me. Well played.
 
i love that they have different models that do different things and serve different market segments. i loved this about some of bridgestone's releases.

what i do understand is that a casual consumer sees new release and assumes the previous releases are now obsolete which is rarely true. to be perfectly frank, that's on callaway for not doing a better job informing the public. having to go to a site like thp (which is obviously awesome) or to callaway's site to learn about the differences is not ideal in today's sea of noise and distractions. just my opinion though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jman said:
This sums up my entire thoughts on it, no need to type anything more really.

People are vastly underestimating their inventory management design, its not the same mistakes that TM made.
Click to expand...

Nailed it - you and ddec. Similar in appearance is not the same thing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I won't pretend to know the backstory or particulars of TaylorMade's fall from grace. I also won't pretend to know what stranglehold Callaway has on the current market. But, what I DO know is that, when Taylor made came out with a line of clubs called RocketBallz I knew that they had completely jumped the shark.

I, as a golf consumer, was completely confused. Was I being trolled? Who is the target demographic, here? Am I supposed to really take this seriously? To this day I don't understand it. And, to be honest, it could be a GREAT line of products but I wouldn't come within ten miles of a product called RocketBallz. Maybe that makes me an asshole or an idiot (wouldn't be the first time I've been called either) but it just wasn't going to happen.

As for Callaway, I (actually my wife, Thanks again, honey) just bought a brand new set of Callaway Apex Forged irons (showed up in the Callaway box with every iron still wrapped in plastic) from 2014. Now, I don't know what that says about their inventory control and it would be hard to gauge because I'm a lefty (Lefty clubs aren't exactly flying off the shelves regardless of release cycles or product quality) but I was certainly pleased to get a set of irons that retailed a few years ago at close $1000.00 for a little over $300.00 bucks. That's for sure!
 
I'm not entirely sure Callaway has become TM in terms of having different lines overlapping each other. Sure they have multiple irons sets and woods out, but the timeline of the releases have given each plenty of time to sell for those who chose to buy.

As a consumer options are not bad and imo Callaway has structured the lines for each segment of golfer. They have the best marketing group out and they tell each story very well and aren't out to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. On their podcast they talk the importance of fitting so you find the right products to play.

Sitting down and talking with Chip at #TheGrandaddy we heard how they know inventory is key, they know they can have the best products in the world, but if they don't tell the story correctly and back that up with customer service, they will be toast.
 
I don't care, the more products to choose from, the better. I'm not dumb enough to think that I need the newest one or that the newest one is better in some way. It's about fit and preference
 
They seem to release a lot of gear but it all seems to fit a different player where TM seemed just push out gear that didn't have much variation in their target market. To me Cally doesn't seem as in your face as much I also think callys clubs are superior to what TM was putting out during their dominance.
 
If Callaway came out and did 1 release cycle every year, but released all the different options at once at that time, would we still complain? Each club serves a different market/golfer IMHO. It's not like they put out the XR line of woods and irons and then six months later release it's replacement. Apex <> XR <> Big Bertha <> Epic <> Fusion. All are at different price points or different technologies that benefit different golfers. For instance, there is absolutely no reason I would ever play a Fusion Driver or Big Bertha OS irons at this point, but will play the Apex or XR/Steelhead line, which comes down to cast vs forged and price for me ($799 vs $1999). Epic irons are their own beast and if Callaway can penetrate the super premium market then good for them and good for us because that technology will eventually trickle down into the main stream lines. I would love to see an Apex Pro with cup face technology.
 
I think 2017 Callaway is the "New Taylormade" as far as their dominance, but they're not likely to make the same mistakes as they have the benefit of having learned from Taylormade's mistakes. They'll probably make their own mistakes that everyone else will learn from, but I feel like 2017 Callaway knows what is at stake rather than (2014 or whenever) Taylormade who seemingly thought they could not fail.

They've released a ton of clubs, which is brilliant done the way they have done it. If you get with a fitter to purchase your clubs, there's now an even greater chance that Callaway will have a club that will fit you.
 
I can see how from a distance Callaway's way of doing things could be equated with TM, even if what's going on behind the scenes is different.

I said it for TM and the same applies to Callaway. When the market decides it doesn't like what Callaway is doing, they will either change or start losing money.
 
I just don't understand the concern over how many releases a golf company has per year.
More releases mean more options for the consumers.
If it causes stocking problems with the retailers, well then it's their problem to work out with the OEM.
If it causes problems for the golfer that has to have the very newest equipment as soon as it's released, well then it's their problem to work out with their budget.
Nobody seems to complain when the automotive OEMs release 6, 8 or 10 models every year....
 
To the original posts question, I think that seeing one store's inventory of older units could be misleading. From the retail perspective, this could be an indication of several things: the retailer got a really good deal on these units, that market may sell more older/cheaper models, or that retailer just ordered too many originally. In the case of TaylorMade at the end, almost every retail store had several generations of excess product in large quantities. So far, I haven't seen the indications of that happening with Callaway.

As far as the spread out of the release cycles (multiple launches per year), I would think from a retailer perspective that there could be some benefit to that. Even if I as a consumer am not in the buying mode for a specific club, when I hear about a new product in the brands I am interested in, I go into a store to check them out. New product is a tool retailers use to drive traffic. If everything gets released all at once, you get me in the store for that reason once, maybe twice. If product gets released throughout the year, maybe that increases to 5-10 times. They still have to convince me to buy something, but traffic is better than no traffic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top