Will Whistler survive in the scanner market?

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scosgt

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Radio Shack scanners (made by Whistler) are being dumped on the market at bargain basement prices - RS stores selling the PRO-668 for $150, being re-sold on EBay as low as $159.

It seems to me that the market is being saturated with cheap scanners (which are identical to the Whistler branded models).

This not only affects the possible price (who in their right mind will pay for the same radio that says "Whistler" for $500 when you can buy it on ebay for $150) but also the scanner hobby market will be totally saturated for a while. People who could not afford to pay $500 for a digital scanner can now buy two for that money and have $$ left over.

So, between a saturated and sated market, and the fact that RS owes them money, will Whistler survive at all, much less keep selling scanners?

Opinions?
 

Blackswan73

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The fact that RadioShack scanners will soon be no more, could be a good thing for Whistler. True, the fire sales on the current scanners will be a blow to Whistler's scanner sales, but it also means their soon to be released 1095 will have no other outlet to weaken it's sales.
 

scosgt

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Will they survive on the 1095? Don't get me wrong, the cheap prices right now are not a direct problem for Whistler, wait, yes they are....

No one will be buying Whistler scanners as long as the RS scanners are around for less, and they will be for quite some time. They are already NOT selling on Ebay for as little as $230, the prices have dropped like a rock.

And supposedly RS never paid Whistler for a lot of the inventory.
 

JD21960

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Sure they will. But it doesn't matter. The company will continue. They don't just make scanners, they also make the following:
Portable jumpstart and power supplies
Action Cameras/DVR
Inspection Cameras
Laser Radar Detectors
Power Inverters
Red Light Camera Detectors
Tire pressue monitoring systems
Motorcycle Helmet safety lights
 

Blackswan73

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RS bill to Whistler is around $600,00. A lot of money to you and me, but not all that much to a company that takes in millions annually. I think Whistlers problem is going to be how to market their scanners. RadioShack had a store in about every city of 30,000 or more. No other electronics retailer has that kind of presence. They are going to have to court places like Target, Sears, Wal Mart, Best Buy, etc. None of those places except Best Buy, are mainly geared to consumer electronics. It is true, that there is a growing trend to online shopping, and this may be a viable option. Since scanners are not Whistler's main product line, they will probably be OK. Whether they stay in the scanner business I think will hinge on the success, or failure of the 1095. They know this, and that is why they won't realese the 1095 til it is perfected. They can't afford a fiasco like the new unidens have been through.
 

SCPD

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I only see myself buying another whistler scanner if they build a handheld with wifi and bluetooth stronger plastic shell like Motorola, Kenwood radio a nice display with glass better rubber buttons. Battery that two-way radios use for a week long of listening and drop in charger. These 2,3,4 AA batteries in today scanner only getting 8 hours is sad. My 1970 regency I still use for analog blows any new scanner away in battery life by another 12 hours the drop in charge is also convenient.
 

marksmith

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Does not sound like you will be buying a Whistler scanner soon if ever with that wish list.

Just waiting. Probably end up getting both a 996p2 and a 1095 but the 1095 is a definite as soon as it is released.

Mark
BCD536HP/HP-1E/HP-2E/BCD996XT/BCD396XT(2)/BCD996T/PSR-800/PRO-96 +
 

Boatanchor

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It is not a good time to be entering (in) the scanner market.

With RS dumping digital scanners on the market for $99 - $150 and Uniden releasing new scanners every other month.

I can't see how Whistler can survive in the scanner market unless:

1/ They start developing and producing new and innovative products. But, the clock is ticking and they need to do it soon..
2/ They are able to be competitive with Uniden on price.
&
They show strong commitment to ongoing product support (including addressing customer feedback on firmware etc) - Unlike Uniden at the moment who are drowning in problems with the x36HP.

They will probably have to look seriously at marketing their products directly on Amazon. Forget about bricks and mortar stores altogether.
 

Boatanchor

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Sadly, I just don't think Whistler has the resources to do any of the above.
They don't have the luxury of a highly developed in-house RF manufacturing facility in Asia, like Uniden does. Without this, Whistler has to rely on third party Chinese manufacturing partners which increases the time it takes from drawing board to market. It also raises concerns about Intellectual Property security.

I guess time will tell but they need to at least get that WS-1095 out on the street in a hurry, then start looking at new products.
 

oregontreehugger

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No other electronics retailer has that kind of presence. They are going to have to court places like Target, Sears, Wal Mart, Best Buy, etc. None of those places except Best Buy, are mainly geared to consumer electronics.

That's the beauty of it -- they already are in many of those retail locations with their other product offerings. So the distribution system and shelf space is ready to go. :cool:
 

rapidcharger

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They will have to spend a lot on development and why bother when someone else in China is just going to rip it off? I think they'll survive without scanners but scanners are really going to be a thing of the past IMHO.
 

mhscan

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I THING the scanner market is in trouble anyway a lot of pd are going dvp anyway
 

retropcdos

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Just because a few are dumping RadioShack Pro-668 at the moment and it's pretty much a buyers market right now, as they are flooding the market with them. As soon as RadioShack clear what they have left and those sellers sold what they had left to make a quick buck. Then it become a sellers market and prices will climb back up once again, as it usually does. Especially once most are sold and not much left. If your a smart seller you wait a couple or more months, they are not like smartphone, or tablet market.. Scanners are niche market items and not very many models that can do Phase 2, same reason older digital trucking scanners still hold almost full value 10 years later, not very many being produced and take time to redesign new model that support new systems.


As far as Whistler staying in the scanner market, they have other issues to worry about if they want to stay in the scanner market that goes beyond the scope of this thread, as it take pages to explain. To make it simple.Long term it doesn't look good for them, as they just don't have the resources needed to redesign a whole another scanner. so on borrow time. Only time will tell.

As far as DVP and encryption, I won't get into that, way to much to explain, but reason why many are not going that route as some claim. Yes some unfortunately will, Some already try and dumped the muilti million dollar system realizing it's unreliable and more site towers needed and when back to even old school analog for now, or using digital systems that proven to be reliable and that scanners can pickup and only encryption some TG's where sensitive traffic is, for good and more reason I won't get into.

As a buyer best time to buy a new scanner and don't wait, as it cause price of not just the Radio Shack scanners to drop, but other scanners as well for the time being. Even the BCD436 drop some as was over $500 not to long ago, now you can find them for $400 -$439 new/
 
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fxdscon

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To make it simple.Long term it doesn't look good for them, as they just don't have the resources needed to redesign a whole another scanner. so on borrow time. Only time will tell.

Just curious..... What position are you in to know what resources Whistler has or doesn't have?

.
 

retropcdos

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Just curious..... What position are you in to know what resources Whistler has or doesn't have?

.



Just the fact they rely on third party partners and don't do in house and being a very niche market as it is. Like I said ,"time will tell", it just doesn't look good for them long term,
 
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torontokris

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I think Whistler lost a few customers by the delay on the 1095.. Uniden has swept in and taking a lot of peoples money with all the new models.

I will still be buying a 1095 but the average customer may have run out of money by the time the 1095 comes

Lets hope they are just taking the time to perfect the 1095! And no recalls etc
 

INDY72

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All I have to say is Uniden is about to be in serious troubles unless they stop making new things and FIX hat they have. HP 1 proven to have serious issues that were not fixed with the HP 2... BCD436/536HP's were rushed out to grab dollars and it is just now that Uniden is fixing serious issues there. Now they re release the 396/996 with Phase 2 P25.... Again, why not just fix the originals with upgrades? Anyway, time will tell on all this, and anyone claiming Whistler is in trouble is just trolling. Uniden is counting on one thing right now, history. They have been in the game a long time so die hard fans buy the stuff they pump out. The problem with scanners buyers is one thing: Only a few of use take the time to really do our homework and sit tight til we see things are done right. Oh don't get me wrong, I like certain of Uniden's products, and am a huge fan of the BCD436/536 HP's.... But for the price range, and the number of problems that are still not completely working as originally promised I am still holding out until that gets righted, or the 1095 hits. And Whistler has begun bringing out the 1095 at every opportunity to show it off now. So I am thinking very soon, I will be opening my account for an 1095.
 

retropcdos

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All I have to say is Uniden is about to be in serious troubles unless they stop making new things and FIX hat they have. HP 1 proven to have serious issues that were not fixed with the HP 2... BCD436/536HP's were rushed out to grab dollars and it is just now that Uniden is fixing serious issues there. Now they re release the 396/996 with Phase 2 P25.... Again, why not just fix the originals with upgrades? Anyway, time will tell on all this, and anyone claiming Whistler is in trouble is just trolling. Uniden is counting on one thing right now, history. They have been in the game a long time so die hard fans buy the stuff they pump out. The problem with scanners buyers is one thing: Only a few of use take the time to really do our homework and sit tight til we see things are done right. Oh don't get me wrong, I like certain of Uniden's products, and am a huge fan of the BCD436/536 HP's.... But for the price range, and the number of problems that are still not completely working as originally promised I am still holding out until that gets righted, or the 1095 hits. And Whistler has begun bringing out the 1095 at every opportunity to show it off now. So I am thinking very soon, I will be opening my account for an 1095.

Agree with you, they need to fix issues with there flagship models instead of coming out with new models, when they can't get the old one correct. I had to return two 536hp due to issues and advertise features that still don't wok correctly, so just return it. That one thing I can say the Whistler WS1080 has worked reliable for the most part.
 

Voyager

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Even when the new models were on the drawing board before the flagship models were released, and any issues were unknown except the expected 2 month delay of some features? That would require clairvoyance, and I don't think anyone believes Uniden has that.

The x36 models work reliably for the most part, too.
 
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