Will an OEM eventually merge/buyout with a shaft manufacturer?

Mookieb10 · February 28, 2021

Just a survey-type question. On the surface, it seems like a big golf equipment company might merge/buy/takeover or ever just gain exclusivity right to a company which makes a component of said clubs.

I think the exclusivity right idea has the potential to almost be a loss leader. For example, if I’m running, let’s say Ping, and I can make Dynamic Gold shafts exclusive to Ping, I would certainly inquire about the price of doing so. If you’re an X1 or S3 user, you’re backed into buying Pings now or trying a different shaft. In another example, if you want to buy a Ventus, you can do so with a $125 upcharge on a Titleist club or buy it for $350 on its own.

Mookie91 · February 28, 2021

I think you might see a merge with a boutique brand that might be struggling a bit. For instance maybe Cobra and LA Golf join where Cobra has exclusive rights to their tech. All Cobra drivers, woods, graphite irons, hybrids etc. will use LA Golf shafts as stock but you can still up charge for exotics.

tannyhoban · February 28, 2021

No. It would kill the shaft business outside that brand. Who wants to buy from a competitor? Would actually increase the cost of a shaft.

OEMs can exert pricing influence on shaft mfgs. much the way Auto OEMs can on tires or other component sub assemblies plus get them tweaked to their specs now.

hypergolf · February 28, 2021

2 hours ago, Mookieb10 said:

Just a survey-type question. On the surface, it seems like a big golf equipment company might merge/buy/takeover or ever just gain exclusivity right to a company which makes a component of said clubs.

I think the exclusivity right idea has the potential to almost be a loss leader. For example, if I’m running, let’s say Ping, and I can make Dynamic Gold shafts exclusive to Ping, I would certainly inquire about the price of doing so. If you’re an X1 or S3 user, you’re backed into buying Pings now or trying a different shaft. In another example, if you want to buy a Ventus, you can do so with a $125 upcharge on a Titleist club or buy it for $350 on its own.

No. Refer to Ansoff Matrix or maybe even horizontal integration.

kess13 · February 28, 2021

Not certain the ROI would be worth the cost to secure exclusivity unless it was a short run for a new manufacturer trying to build a brand. But then why would a large oem want to push a relatively unknown product? I think the closest we’ll see is Srixon/Miyazaki. I’ve been wrong before... Many times.

Kingcat990 · February 28, 2021

Shaft R&D paired with manufacturing would be a significant expansion to a golf club manufacturer.

RogerinNewZealand · February 28, 2021

Srixon/Cleveland/Mayazaki too me was a dead duck..2012ish they had huge range then they went Lite..43 is all you need they said...how may driver sales did they loose 2014 to 2020....now fwys drivers are back too 60 65ish grams and its a Happy World🙂Yes the Irons are superb,but they threw away all those 2yr 3yr replacement sales on Cleveland Classics.....(and i loved the Style!)

the bishop · February 28, 2021

I get where you are coming from but I don't think it makes a lot of sense. And the cynic in me says I would never trust the no upcharge offerings from that company ever again.

No_Catchy_Nickname · February 28, 2021

Honma have a proprietary shaft brand, Vizard (a portmanteau of "Victory" and "Wizard", IIRC...), and they were early adopters of carbon shafts (back in 1973), but I think they developed the shafts themselves.

This may be why they don't offer much in the way of other shafts with their woods. I've got the 2021 Japanese brochure in front of me and they offer three other shafts besides the Vizard for the drivers: the Evolution V in 569 and 661, and the Diamana DF60. There's also an upcharge of around $200US for these shafts over a Vizard (that's going by MRP).

Not sure that's a great way to get people to try your drivers. That said, I've tried a few Vizard offerings, and they're good shafts. Really liked them in the driving irons.

BIG STU · February 28, 2021

12 minutes ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

Honma have a proprietary shaft brand, Vizard (a portmanteau of "Victory" and "Wizard", IIRC...), and they were early adopters of carbon shafts (back in 1973), but I think they developed the shafts themselves.

This may be why they don't offer much in the way of other shafts with their woods. I've got the 2021 Japanese brochure in front of me and they offer three other shafts besides the Vizard for the drivers: the Evolution V in 569 and 661, and the Diamana DF60. There's also an upcharge of around $200US for these shafts over a Vizard (that's going by MRP).

Not sure that's a great way to get people to try your drivers. That said, I've tried a few Vizard offerings, and they're good shafts. Really liked them in the driving irons.

That is what is in the G1X Honma driver I was gaming but it was labeled Honma. I did some research and a couple of phone calls to find out. From what I was told the shafts were engineered to work exclusively with their driver. Now I ended up with a set of G1X irons and they have the True Temper X-95 steel shafts in them. And I know those were bought brand new and who bought them so they have not been changed so go figure

No_Catchy_Nickname · February 28, 2021

41 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

That is what is in the G1X Honma driver I was gaming but it was labeled Honma. I did some research and a couple of phone calls to find out. From what I was told the shafts were engineered to work exclusively with their driver. Now I ended up with a set of G1X irons and they have the True Temper X-95 steel shafts in them. And I know those were bought brand new and who bought them so they have not been changed so go figure

They don't seem to have a proprietary steel shaft for their irons anymore, so there are more options. They used to offer "Hagane" steel shafts which I think were made by Honma themselves, but I'm not sure of that. I've a persimmon 3w with a Hagane steel shaft that I really like, and wedge with one that I don't like.

With their latest iron range, they offer a Modus shaft specially developed with Nippon Steel for Honma. It appears to be similar to the Modus 105 in weight, but with a mid kick point.