It’s no secret that the big names in the driver market right now are Callaway, Ping, TaylorMade and Titleist, as those four account for the vast majority of driver sales.
Does that mean other companies don’t make drivers that are as good? No, not really. But when you have companies with so much market share and an established brand identity, it makes it hard for others to break in.
That’s the challenge for companies like Cobra, L.A. Golf, Mizuno, Srixon, Wilson and others. How can they break into the driver space like L.A.B. Golf has done in the putter market?
On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, Johnny Wunder dove into the state of the driver market and why it can be so difficult to see a disruptor in the space.
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“You’re not up against the marketing machines,” Wunder explained. “You’re up against their R&D budgets and history and everything that they can do. So, when you’re competing against Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping, Titleist, which are basically the ‘Big 4’ in the driver category, you’re walking into a casino and you’re sitting down at a table with guys that have $50 million in chips and you have $5 million in chips.”
Even if a smaller company does come out with something innovative that goes faster than other drivers, the larger companies will simply turn to their R&D budgets and create their own spin on a new technology. That massive R&D budget enables them to pivot and put something out quickly.
“That’s how you hold market shares, because you’ve done 50, 60 years of work, of R&D work, and billions of dollars of investment,” Wunder said. “That’s what it gets you.”
L.A.B. Golf was able to grab a large share of the putter market because the product isn’t focused on creating more speed, Wunder said. A L.A.B. putter may work very well for a lot of people, but there is no way to prove a putter makes more putts than another for a given person — unlike drivers, where everything is measured by speed.
Again, does that mean any of the smaller companies listed above don’t make outstanding drivers? Absolutely not! But it does explain what they are working against as they try to battle for a larger share of the golf club market.
For more from Wunder, including why Srixon irons have been dominating on the PGA Tour lately, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here or watch it below.
Want to find the best shafts for your game? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
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