LakeMaster Acquired By Johnson Outdoors

[delcecchi]

Well sort of....for a particular company, sure. But look how much easier our lives have become with the adaption of things such as USB or HDMI. It's also been proven time and time again that open source can be a successful business model.

I don't know about HDMI, but it appears that USB is an industry standard that is not "open source" in any way. Costs 4000 per year to join and get copies of the standard. BTDT on other standards, like PCI and InfiniBand.

[Nick Kuhn]

Not to mention USB can be a PitA at times.

[buzbunni]

It's also been proven time and time again that open source can be a successful business model.

Again...sort of.

I don't really see open source products as a "business model" per se.

I have used several open source products in my business.

A few I continue to use, but many have been jettisoned because (quite frankly) the "for fee" products seem to serve me better and get more attention with updates and the like.

Open source has not been the answer...for me at least...for the most part.

[bobbymalone]

i don't think dtro's talking about open source so much about open for you to develop at home - something like open office or droid os. I think he is talking about developing a video game that plays on both ps3 and xbox.

[JohnMickish]

You did read their HSOforum, right?

Opps, I didn't see that. I guess it does suck to be a Lowrance guy now. Well you always have Navionics.

[JohnMickish]

One thing that this does do is open the door for Navionics to develop a partnership with Lowrance and develop their own deal.

[401TE]

You did read their HSOforum, right?

Uh, what? All that says is they're suspending online sales of Lowrance and Garmin chips, not all sale of those chips. They're still going to keep making and selling Lakemaster chips for Lowrance and Garmin, they'll just make them with more features for H-Bird.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Are you sure? They are no longer on their HSOforum.

[Duffman]

Uh, what? All that says is they're suspending online sales of Lowrance and Garmin chips, not all sale of those chips.

Well, of course they are not going to ban the sales of chips already in the stores, but I'm guessing those stores will not be able to order any new copies to sell. Just a guess.

I've got a four letter word for this deal........LAME.

[401TE]

lol, apparently you're a pessimist. read the press release...it say's Lakemaster chips for Lowrances and Garmin will remain "readily available" in retail outlets. not sure how this all is being interpreted as saying there will no longer be Lakemaster chips for Lowrance or Garmin.

[TooTallTom]

While it doesn't say explicitly that data production for Lowrance and Garmin is stopping, I find it hard to believe that a manufacturer that has previously sold a product on its HSOforum, and is continuing to sell other products on its HSOforum, will keep making a product that it no longer sells on its HSOforum.

Put another way, LakeMaster has shown a continued willingness to participate in direct-to-consumer sales, so why stop selling products for Lowarance and Garmin direct to consumers if they are still going to be producing them? That just doesn't make sense to me.

It's not like Johnson Outdoors has other mapping products for Garmin and Lowance and wants LakeMaster to quit selling products for those brands to get rid of some competition in that market segment...

[Nick Kuhn]

As I said before, companies will not stop selling multimillion dollar revenue outlets even if it's for a competitor. Profit is profit, even if it's coming from the devil himself...

[blakjack23]

I think if the numbers prove they will make more $ by the increase in sales of Lowrance guys buying 'birds then they will go that route and quite making chips for Lowrance units.

Sounds like good news to me since I own and love the 'birds.

[TooTallTom]

Sounds like good news to me since I own and love the 'birds.

As long as they keep their high standards and pace of innovation, and don't start resting on their laurels profit margin and exclusivity.

[CaptainMusky]

With MinnKota, Humminbird, Cannon and now Lakemaster all owned by the same company, can you imagine some of the things that can be done thru "exclusive" software? Automatic contour trolling? Set the Terrova to follow a contour or stay at a certain mapping depth? Automatic control of your downriggers?

As much as I love my Lakemaster chips in my Lowrance HDS, following a "contour" on ANY mapchip is not a big benefit. I have Navionics and Lakemaster and they are not precisely accurate by any stretch of the imagination. What I see more useful or plausible since they are nearly there already with the iPilot is following a mapped TRACK or ROUTE on your GPS. This makes more sense than a contour line.

If Johnson Outdoors screws with my Lakemaster chip for HDS, I will just move to Navionics. I already have both. They each have their plusses and minusses.

They never said they were going to quit selling to Lowrance or Garmin, just internet sales.

[CaptainMusky]

I think if the numbers prove they will make more $ by the increase in sales of Lowrance guys buying 'birds then they will go that route and quite making chips for Lowrance units.

Sounds like good news to me since I own and love the 'birds.

Funny, guys are going to flock to the local sporting goods store to drop $1000 on a new GPS so they can use a $100 map chip? Get real. People dont switch brands BECAUSE of a mapchip, if that were true then Bird wouldnt have sold as many as they did because Lakemaster chip didnt work on the new units.

[TravP]

Lakemaster doesn't work on what new units?

[CaptainMusky]

Lakemaster doesn't work on what new units?

It does now but it didnt at first. All their advertising even points this out "now available for huminbird".

[hanson]

Funny thing with Humminbirds...A LOT of guys were buying them when Lakemaster wasn't even compatible with the units yet. Was only a couple years ago when a Lakemaster chip wouldn't work in a Humminbird. I had Navionics chips for mine before Lakemaster was available. When they finally came out with them, they had these awesome features that weren't available to someone owning a Lowrance with a Lakemaster chip.

I think its funny to assume folks will switch brands because of the Lakemaster chip, they were switching brands already.

[bbrad24]

Brand loyalties aside, I think as fisherman, we want to catch more and bigger fish, and this will lead to better innovations to help us do that. We all put time and money into fishing, and this will better our experience. Garmin and Lowrance owners may be slightly behind Humminbird owners when something new does come out, but like most other things, there will be a shift to bring the competition back up to par (or close to it).

[CaptainMusky]

In the long term this will probably work out best for Lakemaster than anything. There is going to be a lot more money pumping in and Lakemaster is way behind Navionics in charting beyond the upper midwest so this should help them tremendously.

They are all just tools to use to help get more fish in the boat. You can have all the tools in the world but if you dont know how to use them they dont do you any good.

[blakjack23]

Funny, guys are going to flock to the local sporting goods store to drop $1000 on a new GPS so they can use a $100 map chip? Get real. People dont switch brands BECAUSE of a mapchip, if that were true then Bird wouldnt have sold as many as they did because Lakemaster chip didnt work on the new units.

When did I say guys are going to 'flock' to drop a G on a new unit ONLY because of the chip? Get real.

I would guess there are guys who were already debating switching or new buyers debating what to buy...the chip might be the deciding factor.

Like I said....IF the numbers made sense they would do it. IF the numbers proved they'd make more money selling ice cream cones they'd probably do that too.

[JohnMickish]

It's funny how everybody is fixated on the chips and Lowrance units. I've got a feeling that the advantage that Humminbird will have will go way beyone the screen and what you see.

[stick]

Let me try and inject a little "voice of reason" to this conversation. If Johnson Outdoors owns both MinnKota AND Humminbird, are the new MinnKota's transducers' connectivity exclusive to the Birds? Nope...they still offer connectivity to most brands of electronics.

Cool heads will prevail, and companies are always moving and jockying for market position. In the end...consumers win. Some of us that own "other" electronics, we may just need patience and let the market pressures and innovation move things in our direction. Or...eventually we will save our hard earned pennies and move in the direction of innovation.

[PerchJerker]

I wonder if HB / LakeMaster will finally come out with a mobile app for LakeMaster maps, like Nav has. Seems like it would make sense, especially since HB does not sell any handheld GPS units.