Future of RC....

[wings_of_fire]

I came across this Intresting article about the RC industry being in trouble.

Why I


From what I have seen is that people usually stick to a hobby for 4 to 5 years and then get bored and move onto a different hobby. In the past 10 -15 years there has been a significant jump in number of manufacturers and their output of products which have gradually saturated the market.

Non branded RC from china do sell cheap on ebay and Amazon but not every one prefers cheap but majority do. If reputed brands go out of profits and keep shutting down, then we won't see innovation and creativity in new products.


Share your thoughts on this topic.

[JatoTheRipper]

RC is a niche hobby. It always has been and always will be. There have been times in history when it has become more popular in the mainstream (80's, release of the Traxxas Slash, etc), but for the most part it's a small segment. When it becomes oversaturated with too many companies, like it is now, the best-selling products will rise to the top and others will fail and go out of business.

[jeeptec]

I’ve been in and out of the hobby a few times. I started in the mid to late 80’s with my kids. When it was off road monster trucks and 4wd dirt track cars. That lasted about 3 years or so. People lost interest and the shops with the tracks stopped doing race nights and the shops closed up. I got back into the hobby again in the mid 2000’s when I was off work from an atv accident. I got into the 2.2 crawlers. That lasted again for like you say about 3 years. I had to sell my stuff the economy crashed and I lost my job the company I worked for went out of business. The local hobby shop used to do crawl nights every Monday night. And we’re doing a monthly competition. People started loosing interest and the crawl nights and competition stopped. The local hobby shop reduced there inventory on crawlers and parts. Then a couple years ago I got back into it when the 1.9 scale vehicles kits came out. There is a local Facebook group that gets together for friendly day of crawling but nothing like it was with the competitions. I’ve noticed that the interest goes in cycles. Also as you stated there are so many cheap parts on eBay and Amazon that is hard for a local shop to stock a large inventory like they used. As for me I still have just enough interest to not to sell my stuff yet. Plus my girlfriends grandkids want to play with them so I still keep them around. As for the future of the hobby I think it’ll continue to go through cycles of high and low interest.


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[svt923]

Tracks are just a losing proposition as a primary business, not necessarily a reflection of the RC industry. They require a huge space (usually equating to a huge rent expense) and essentially require you to cover an entire month's worth of expenses on income of 5-10 race days. There are tracks that live a long life but I'll guarantee they all have either another primary business to support them or an agreement on free or substantially below cost access to land.

[kincer]

Personally I feel that as more scale realism is released the more people are going to be interested, I understand there is cost involved with licensing and copyrights but you make more scale versions of what people are driving they are going to buy them. Like the new Scout coming from Redcat finally something different, don't get me wrong I like a lot of automotive brands but it was a breath of fresh air to see that, and even if people don't care for Redcat that body is gonna end up on a lot of different brands of chassis'. It's true people get in and out of the hobby for different reasons, mine was financial, some get bored, I just came back after four years and I think it's better than when I left, never ever thought I'd have a Traxxas scaler but I love mine!

[2mtech]

When I got into this three years ago there was a huge LHS five miles from my house with a large paved track that had just closed and was up for sale. I looked into buying it and converting to a crawler haven, but I had to be able to make a living from it and the business case was bleak. Running at a break even would have even been challenging. The interest just isn't there around here and, as stated already, the online marketplace is just too tough to compete with for retail sales. The place is an auto repair garage now.

One of the shops just outside Raleigh is mainly a lawnmower shop. I laughed when I first saw it, but like svt said, having the RC stuff as a side hustle is smart, and likely the only way to keep a decent, privately owned LHS open here if you cater mainly to surface rigs.

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[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

RC is a niche hobby. It always has been and always will be. There have been times in history when it has become more popular in the mainstream (80's, release of the Traxxas Slash, etc), but for the most part it's a small segment. When it becomes oversaturated with too many companies, like it is now, the best-selling products will rise to the top and others will fail and go out of business.

I don't think the RC market is niche. Overall US toy market sale was worth 22 billion USD in 2015 and I guess the RC market is easily around 10% of that. US is the biggest toy market and we have not even considered other countries and their sales figure.

https://www.statista.com/topics/1108/toy-industry/

I will agree that Innovation and creativity definitely sells if packaged well.

[fuceye]

greed
/ɡrēd/Submit
noun
intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or most/best
rc products.


Greed drives this industry.

Buyers want the latest/best most up to date and sometimes unique custom products. this can translate into a sickness.

Sellers....most money they can put in their pockets.

Nothing wrong with either as long as a balance has been struck.

tilt the balance a bit and the industry suffers.

face it when a lot of people in the world suffer from choosing to pay the rent and
put a meal on the table, hobbies take the back burner. Consider the rc hobby
is not cheep.

The cheapest hobby I have found is drawing pictures in the sand with a stick,if I have the time.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

I don't think the RC market is niche. Overall US toy market sale was worth 22 billion USD in 2015 and I guess the RC market is easily around 10% of that. US is the biggest toy market and we have not even considered other countries and their sales figure.

https://www.statista.com/topics/1108/toy-industry/

I will agree that Innovation and creativity definitely sells if packaged well.

I have a hard time believing that RC would account for anywhere near 10% of toy sales. Keep in mind also, that "toy grade" RC accounts for something like 90% of the RC market. Hobby grade RC is a niche within RC, which is a niche within toys.

[wings_of_fire]

Originally Posted by Jim85IROC

I have a hard time believing that RC would account for anywhere near 10% of toy sales. Keep in mind also, that "toy grade" RC accounts for something like 90% of the RC market. Hobby grade RC is a niche within RC, which is a niche within toys.

If we bifurcate RC as you did, that does make sense.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

I don't think the RC market is niche. Overall US toy market sale was worth 22 billion USD in 2015 and I guess the RC market is easily around 10% of that. US is the biggest toy market and we have not even considered other countries and their sales figure.

https://www.statista.com/topics/1108/toy-industry/

I will agree that Innovation and creativity definitely sells if packaged well.

Yes, toys is a massive industry, but within that RC only makes up a very small percentage. It's a niche market within toys.

Online sales are a new challenge to local hobby shops, but they can also be a benefit. My LHS was on the brink of closing, but is now doing record business because they sell online alongside of their retail store. They have the best of both worlds going on.

The same LHS had land that they were renting and some guys from this site volunteered to build a course from scratch. The owner really didn't stock anything related to crawling. They built an awesome course, put on two, successful fun competitions, and drove lots of business to this store. He stocks a ton of scaler stuff now. But he didn't want to pay up for supplies or upkeep and now, just a few years later, the course is flat land and he moved his store elsewhere. Upkeep takes a lot of volunteer work and when you have that you also have to do your part. The owner didn't do his part.

[fuceye]

kinda sure rc crosses more than the toy market.

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by fuceye

kinda sure rc crosses more than the toy market.

That's an interesting point topically. The toy RC market share stops at the initial purchase...you just don't see aftermarket for New Bright or Maisto. The only after-sale stats go to Energizer and Duracell.

In hobby grade RC the initial purchase is like buying a 1911 .45; it's just the beginning of spending twice as much upgrading, improving and hopping up. You'd have to be doing your analysis in the hobby business to capture where the real coin is spent.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by fuceye

kinda sure rc crosses more than the toy market.

Toys...hobbies it probably all runs together.

[Shinchu]

im gonna throw a wrench into this... where do DRONES fall in all that? (drones? fall? anyone? ok...)

but yeah our niche of the RC "market" is VERY niche. even if you lump all the different RC sub-genres together (bashers, monster trucks, crawlers, on-road...) does "RC" still define the same as boats planes DRONES?
interesting i would like to see where drones used for work fall as they aren't a toy. think about realtors who use them to take pictures of houses for sale. videographers who use them to chase down race cars for amazing footage.
when is a toy not a toy?

lumping in hobby grade RC's in US toys sales is subjective, at best.

and gosh darnit i miss being able to walk into a TOY store and buy a HOBBY GRADE RC! (Toy Co. in CA especially)

do i fear for our hobby? no. not really. i agree with those who said it goes in waves.
my pop bought me a blackfoot, my first hobby grade in 89. i got into BMX shortly after that.
got back in to RC around 2005 when drifting was huge. even that sub-genre is still around and going strong with sakura, MST, and yokomo.
i got back in a third time almost 2 years ago when i registered here and got a yeti. i think i'm staying this time ;)

[CM9000]

ha drones.

Racing is only 10% of our hobby, our hobby is only maybe 15% of the toy market. it will never die. as us die hards will still buy rc's and parts. but lets not forget about the gramps or granny that buys their grandchild a new slash.

I think of rc the same way I think about bmx. racing is only 10% of the hobby. and the hobby is only maybe like 20% of the pedal powered hobby world.

[Duuuuuuuude]

There is always a race to the bottom in any market. Low prices will always overcome quality in the general market. Why buy anything at one price when you can get the "same thing" for a lesser price?

Why buy Levis when you can buy Faded Glory?

Why buy Makita when you can buy Ryobi?

Why buy Axial when you can buy Exceed?

At some point as a business you either have to hang your hat on quality and hope it sticks, or find ways to cut corners and keep your prices competitive. Either option is valid, either option has it's pitfalls.

RC will always be around, and there will always be quality manufacturers. They may not always be juggernauts of the industry, but they'll be there.

[OSRC]

Originally Posted by fuceye

greed
/ɡrēd/Submit
noun
intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or most/best
rc products.


Greed drives this industry.

Buyers want the latest/best most up to date and sometimes unique custom products. this can translate into a sickness.

Sellers....most money they can put in their pockets.

Nothing wrong with either as long as a balance has been struck.

Sorry, I don't buy into this at all. I don't think there is anything "greedy" about what I buy, or my interaction within the hobby. RC for me is, and has always been for 30+ years now a passion. Greed has nothing to do with it. Not sure what point you are trying to get at there.

[Greatscott]

This all natural ebb and flow, somethings ebb to the point where they vanish completely.

Remember when comp crawling started to die out, people were saying that it was the end of the world, the RC industry was circling the drain and was just one flush away from going down the crapper completely? Yup, happened. Then the scale crawler craze swept over the land and look at where we are now. I do think our current fad is losing steam, but given that scale RCs are a lot more versatile than comp-built RCs, I think they will stay a strong force in the market for a while to come.

[Robbob]

Imagine how many LHS's could stay open if people bought their kits there instead of finding the cheapest Chinese knock off they can find.

RC's arent going anywhere.