Discmania to partner with Yikun and Latitude 64

[Monkeypaws]

Seems it would also be a big contributor to expanding their market share and saving money on shipping to Europe and Asia.

This.

I like the idea. Evolution gets Discmania closer to their Finnish roots.

 

[nrihan]

I agree with someone else who posted that DM's brand seemed strong already, this feels like it will water their brand down, but I could be waaaay off. Still the most over-hyped DG news of the year. The countdown clock on IG for example, what a joke, this isn't game changing.

 

[Brockness Monster]

I agree with someone else who posted that DM's brand seemed strong already, this feels like it will water their brand down, but I could be waaaay off. Still the most over-hyped DG news of the year. The countdown clock on IG for example, what a joke, this isn't game changing.

In the brewing industry, and I believe business in general, this is called diluting the brand. It is not always detrimental to the company, but more often than not it is.

 

[Cgkdisc]

You want to be a global brand and you don't manufacture discs, it makes sense to partner with manufacturers in each continent to make your disc lines simply to reduce shipping cost. You're a manufacturer who wants to design (Dunipace, Tomas) and produce more discs, you partner to create separate lines for different brands. If brands like DD and Discmania (originally) want/need discs manufactured overseas, their discs probably need to be marketed/seen as a premium line or their shipping cost will be too high compared with brands made on their continent. If these brands want to offer lower cost lines of discs, they likely need to seek manufacturing on that continent for financial success. I think Jussi's announcement is much more important to inspire their international player team and serve notice to their brand competitors on different continents than it is for the typical player around the world.

 

[Owensjef]

Dilution is in the eye of the beholder. It may get watered down in US, AND HIGHLY concentrated in the rest of the world. Have to see how the numbers come out, as a whole, to decide if it improved for the company

 

[DanJon]

Seems it would also be a big contributor to expanding their market share and saving money on shipping to Europe and Asia.

Market share, perhaps.

The new manufacturers will only be molding their specific line ups.

PD's, FD's, etc. are still coming from the states.

So they will still need to ship those over.

And won't their customers in the US want the new molds?

So they will need to ship those over here.

Seems they will spend more on shipping.

 

[slowplastic]

I know I am arguing somantics here, but I have seen this term a couple times this morning and it is being used incorrectly. Just FYI

Yeah that's fair. I think I just read into the tone or "wishful outcomes" of what people want to see happen for some reason. Not just a simple "I bet they're moving operations", but more of a "...oh big change now, what'll happen to Innova guys throwing P2's and Discmania guys who need Firebirds...big split between Dave and Jussi" out of nowhere.

 

[slowplastic]

Really, you think Trilogy has inferior plastic? Shocking. If only you said that even more frequently then maybe everyone would know you think Trilogy has inferior plastic. Just to clarify...do you think Trilogy has inferior plastic?

I'm pretty sure Horsman throws HARD, and Trilogy stuff does have a very quick initial break in. Then I think it holds steady. I can definitely see how for someone with big power this is a minus, although there are enough OS molds out in Trilogy lines that you can get around that.

For the more normal player, the Trilogy plastics break in in a way that they can actually see. Not like playing 25 days a month while throwing 65+MPH to break in champ plastic. Plus they have good hand feel for most and lots of the molds have good glide. So the properties I see big arms maybe not liking are also the properties that a lot of disc golfers want. I don't think "inferior" is the right term, but less stable/durable is true IME. That said I have lots of Trilogy molds in the bag and several have been in there for many seasons.

 

[ru4por]

Really? The two premium trilogy plastics that I've thrown seemed just as durable or maybe slightly even more durable than Innova premium plastics. I haven't thrown a lot of trilogy, and I'm not that big of a fan (most of my bag is Innova) but the premium trilogy seems to really be able to take a beating. I guess you have had more exposure to all of the different brand plastics so you a probably better positioned to comment than I, but I'm still surprised.
Now overall quality when it comes to disc flight, Innova is much better IMO, with the caveat that you know what run you are looking for.

I bag a GL Saint and an Opto Core. Both every bit as durable as anything I throw.

 

[Flick Maniac]

I hate quoting myself, but since we are talking about this in 3 threads already (2 of them in the DISCS subforum, hello!)...

I truly believe the big deal is emerging markets in Europe and China/Asia and having a manufacturer in those regions, rather than a business move to try and make more money off the existing fanbase.

 

[Flick Maniac]

Yes, they are now just taking some of yikun's and lat64's molds and putting their name on them. Not much different then what they do now with Innova

Austin Montgomery from DM said on Facebook that the discs manufactured at Lat64 and Yikun will be Discmania designs. Not a mix of mold parts and tweaking like with Innova.

 

[Flick Maniac]

How isnt it though? Im not a Yikun or trilogy fan. But to have cheap baseline targeted at growing the sport through new players? Look at the sport in China. I would say this is a pretty good deal for discmania. The latitude partnership, i dont really get. But Yikun is a no brainer.

Theres a lot of growth potential in Europe too. Like, Spain with 46 million inhabitants. Disc golf is pretty nonexistent there. Should it take off like it has in the wonder countries (or should it even take off mediocrely), theres $$$$$ to be made with less expenses when youre manufacturing on the same continent.

 

[BuzzzChief]

Does anybody know who owns the patents for the existing discmania discs? Could discmania even have another manufacturer make p2's?

Disc companies don't have patents on mold shapes. They own and operate their own molds, or they have a contractual agreement with another manufacturer to mold discs for them (from molds that they may or may not own). The specifics of the second arrangement would be different on a case-by-case basis. We have no idea of the details, looking from the outside.

Whether Discmania can mold the P2 somewhere else depends on the agreement they have with Innova. My guess is probably not.

This all seems like a good way to for Discmania to enter the market of people/regions that sell or throw a lot of Trilogy. Lat64 obviously sees some potential benefit or they wouldn't agree to the arrangement. The Yikun piece of it doesn't make a ton of sense to me, but what do I know.

 

[Streets]

Not sure if I'm correct...but I thought I've seen somebody post before that Innova technically can't mold small bead Aviars anymore because of Millennium "owning" that mold (Omega).

 

[Brockness Monster]

Theres a lot of growth potential in Europe too. Like, Spain with 46 million inhabitants. Disc golf is pretty nonexistent there. Should it take off like it has in the wonder countries (or should it even take off mediocrely), theres $$$$$ to be made with less expenses when youre manufacturing on the same continent.

True, but spreading yourself out has a tendency to create quality control issues. You have to be very diligent to make sure that the quality out of Yikun and Lat64 are up to your standards. Also, what happens when they want to change plastic blends or move to a supplier with cheaper plastic, that comes with the added side effects to the plastic that fans might not like.

One benefit I see out of this is that since DM is buying the mold parts, they will have those parts on hand if they ever do decide to manufacturing their own discs. It also gives them the opportunity to create mold parts similar to, or exactly the same as what they are currently using from Innova

 

[F. Howl]

Yikun already had a nine tailed fox mold...is Discmania just taking over existing molds? (Nevermind, I see that was already answered....) I don't plan on buying any of it, but the stamps look great:

 

[JTacoma03]

PSA: Jussi is our interview on The Upshot this week, which we will be recording here shortly. If you have questions you'd like answered post them here in the next 10-15 minutes, I'll keep refreshing the thread.

 

[DanJon]

Austin Montgomery from DM said on Facebook that the discs manufactured at Lat64 and Yikun will be Discmania designs. Not a mix of mold parts and tweaking like with Innova.

He specifically said they wouldn't be using existing molds to create new discs?

So they are making all new molds?

 

[slowplastic]

PSA: Jussi is our interview on The Upshot this week, which we will be recording here shortly. If you have questions you'd like answered post them here in the next 10-15 minutes, I'll keep refreshing the thread.

Is there a targeted player style or brand style for the new lines? Like Discmania seems to be clean-style pro/advanced performance, both in marketing and stability/flight. Are these others going to do their own thing a bit or what is the branding or disc-style? I can see the Yikun is perhaps a little more entry/low cost?

Will current Discmania players use discs from all lines if wanted?

Rework questions as needed.

 

[BuzzzChief]

PSA: Jussi is our interview on The Upshot this week, which we will be recording here shortly. If you have questions you'd like answered post them here in the next 10-15 minutes, I'll keep refreshing the thread.

I know the initial strategy is that there are different molds/plastics for each of the three business segments (Originals/Evolution/Active), but will there be any eventual crossover? Meaning, will we ever see something like a Lux PD?