Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Why Minelab is top dog

longbow62

longbow62

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Codan is the parent company of Minelab. The year end financial report came out today. A record 90 million in after tax profit. 42% growth in recreational metal detector sales. Metal detection over all makes up 326.5 million in sales. Vanquish coin and treasure detectors exceeded expectations. 107 million dollars in North America. Africa (Gold Detectors) 203 million. FY21 30 million invested in product development. 30% of employees are engineers.

Minelab has the dollars and brain power for product development. They have a great track record for putting out exceptional detectors. That's not to say they couldn't do some things better. Namely customer service and build quality.

I don't think any other metal detector company has the money or brain trust to overtake them.

https://codan.com.au/wp-content/upl...ull-year-investor-presentation_19.08.2021.pdf
 
Very impressive. The problem with being top dog is there is always some pooch looking to knock you off. Staying on top requires vigilance and the ability to see whats coming down the road. I have to say I don't think Nokta is a second rate company, but a contender knocking on the door. But as you say we will have to wait and see. One thing, although not that well off I will give one a try. Just looking for that edge. Mark
 
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I will say Minelab hit a homerun with FBS technology. It is what lifted them up above pretty much all competition. I have tried all the top-rated detectors in my search for "the deepest" to get to those super deep coins in our city park. Nothing has gone as deep as the E-Trac for me. The CTX3030 is deep, but I like the audio of the E-Trac a tad better. Now, this is strictly my thoughts on deep coins in well packed ground. When it comes to hunting tot lots for gold I would prefer the AT Pro, Deus, or Simplex+.
 
Detector said:
I will say Minelab hit a homerun with FBS technology. It is what lifted them up above pretty much all competition. I have tried all the top-rated detectors in my search for "the deepest" to get to those super deep coins in our city park. Nothing has gone as deep as the E-Trac for me. The CTX3030 is deep, but I like the audio of the E-Trac a tad better. Now, this is strictly my thoughts on deep coins in well packed ground. When it comes to hunting tot lots for gold I would prefer the AT Pro, Deus, or Simplex+.
Click to expand...

Technologically, maybe. But not in terms of market share or brand recognition in the US.

I never heard of Minelab until 2014 and when I did, I thought they were a company you'd find at Radio Shack or a yardsale.

I've been interested in metal detectors since the mid 1990s, although I didn't get my first one until about 7 years ago. All that time in the late 90s to early 2000s, I believed Garrett was the top of the line with Fisher and White's a close second. Tesoro was even lower than Bounty Hunter because of their heavy use of 9V batteries. I honestly though Tesoro was some retro-brand...like how audiophiles today might use cassette tapes for their music.
 
Are the financial reports for Nokta and Garrett available also?
It would be interesting to see if they had similar numbers as that would indicate an overall increase in interest in metal detecting or was it just the one manufacturer Minelab.
 
atomicbrh said:
Are the financial reports for Nokta and Garrett available also?
It would be interesting to see if they had similar numbers as that would indicate an overall increase in interest in metal detecting or was it just the one manufacturer Minelab.
Click to expand...

I don't think so, as I think Garrett is a privately held company.
 
I shop in lots of "Big Box" sporting goods retailers and I usually see several Minelab Vanquish detectors for sale. I see people walking out the door with them too.

As for Garrett, the fact that their most recent releases were the simultaneous multi frequency APEX (Vanquish competition) and the Garrett (Whites) Goldmaster 24K is very revealing. Many people on this forum and others who are just thinking of the USA could not understand why Garrett brought out an ACE level SMF and bought Whites who had two perfectly good simultaneous multi frequency detectors in their lineup ( and who knows what patented intellectual property) and why they released a gold prospecting detector for their first "Whites" offering.

Here in the USA, many people think that Garrett is the king (which it may possibly be sales wise in the USA). When you look at the Minelab gold nugget detector sales for Africa however, (Garrett sees these number too) it is no wonder that Garrett got the 24K to market as fast as it could and just changed the color scheme and some of the labeling. Up until now, Garrett literally has had NO competitive gold nugget prospecting detector aside from the military grade countermine ATX that they could effectively market in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. The ATX is a perfectly good pulse induction gold prospecting detector IF you can lift and swing it all day. Most people can't and won't. Compared to Minelab's comparable pulse induction gold prospecting detectors the ATX is a relic....... The "new" Garrett 24K however is a top of the line VLF gold prospecting detector and can easily compete with or out perform the Minelab Goldmonster 1000, Equinox 800, Fisher Gold Bug II, XP ORX/Depar600 or the Makro Gold Kruzer and their new GM2000 if the detecting ground is not extremely mineralized. The Equinox 800 still wins the prize in that kind of ground due to its Multi IQ technology. I have owned and used all of these specialty gold nugget prospecting VLF detectors so I am not just blowing hot air. I did not include the Garrett AT "Gold" (perfectly good relic/coin/jewerly detector) in that list along with any other sub 19khz detector. They can't compete with the 40kHz and higher gold detectors.

The Garrett (Whites) Goldmaster 24K is that good and Garrett can make a killing if they get it into the African gold prospecting market ASAP.

For you Minelab FBS lovers......the Etrac and CTX3030 are still in the 2022 model lineup and Minelab/Codan has not yet announced any new models for 2022.
 
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Detector said:
I will say Minelab hit a homerun with FBS technology. It is what lifted them up above pretty much all competition. I have tried all the top-rated detectors in my search for "the deepest" to get to those super deep coins in our city park. Nothing has gone as deep as the E-Trac for me. The CTX3030 is deep, but I like the audio of the E-Trac a tad better. Now, this is strictly my thoughts on deep coins in well packed ground. When it comes to hunting tot lots for gold I would prefer the AT Pro, Deus, or Simplex+.
Click to expand...

X2
 
mh9162013 said:
Technologically, maybe. But not in terms of market share or brand recognition in the US.

I never heard of Minelab until 2014 and when I did, I thought they were a company you'd find at Radio Shack or a yardsale.

I've been interested in metal detectors since the mid 1990s, although I didn't get my first one until about 7 years ago. All that time in the late 90s to early 2000s, I believed Garrett was the top of the line with Fisher and White's a close second. Tesoro was even lower than Bounty Hunter because of their heavy use of 9V batteries. I honestly though Tesoro was some retro-brand...like how audiophiles today might use cassette tapes for their music.
Click to expand...

A show of hands on who thinks Garrett had 107 million dollars in North American sales last year. As far as name recognition goes the average Joe has no idea on who makes metal detectors. It's not like Ford, Chevy, Dodge. If in fact you are newly interested (last 10 years) in buying a metal detector then Minelab is just as common a brand as Garrett, Whites, Fisher, etc..
 
longbow62 said:
A show of hands on who thinks Garrett had 107 million dollars in North American sales last year. As far as name recognition goes the average Joe has no idea on who makes metal detectors. It's not like Ford, Chevy, Dodge. If in fact you are newly interested (last 10 years) in buying a metal detector then Minelab is just as common a brand as Garrett, Whites, Fisher, etc..
Click to expand...

Was Garrett able to produce and/or sell at least 200,000 metal detectors in North America last year........? Maybe_
 
longbow62 said:
A show of hands on who thinks Garrett had 107 million dollars in North American sales last year. As far as name recognition goes the average Joe has no idea on who makes metal detectors. It's not like Ford, Chevy, Dodge. If in fact you are newly interested (last 10 years) in buying a metal detector then Minelab is just as common a brand as Garrett, Whites, Fisher, etc..
Click to expand...

It's possible, especially since they have other divisions besides their sport/hobby division. Minelab could be a giant compared to Garrett when you look at international presence/sales, but I'd be surprised if they have any sales or name recognition advantage over Garrett in the US.

As for name recognition, I'm fairly confident Garrett has far more name recognition in the US than Minelab. However, how this translates into increased sales, I don't know exactly, but it can't hurt. Also, I know Minelab is more well-known in the US now than it was just 5 years ago.
 
mh9162013 said:
It's possible, especially since they have other divisions besides their sport/hobby division. Minelab could be a giant compared to Garrett when you look at international presence/sales, but I'd be surprised if they have any sales or name recognition advantage over Garrett in the US.

As for name recognition, I'm fairly confident Garrett has far more name recognition in the US than Minelab. However, how this translates into increased sales, I don't know exactly, but it can't hurt. Also, I know Minelab is more well-known in the US now than it was just 5 years ago.
Click to expand...

Walk into any American airport and you will see the Garrett name. Any place that has a walk through detector, there is a 99.9 % chance it will be a Garrett detector. Many schools here in Houston have them, not to mention commercial buildings.

The Garrett name is everywhere. Fisher makes a walk through detector but I've never seen one. I've never seen an airport security hand held by Fisher either. Garrett employs around 300 people. I know that's more than Minelab.
 
jmaclen said:
I shop in lots of "Big Box" sporting goods retailers and I usually see several Minelab Vanquish detectors for sale. I see people walking out the door with them too.

As for Garrett, the fact that their most recent releases were the simultaneous multi frequency APEX (Vanquish competition) and the Garrett (Whites) Goldmaster 24K is very revealing. Many people on this forum and others who are just thinking of the USA could not understand why Garrett brought out an ACE level SMF and bought Whites who had two perfectly good simultaneous multi frequency detectors in their lineup ( and who knows what patented intellectual property) and why they released a gold prospecting detector for their first "Whites" offering.

Here in the USA, many people think that Garrett is the king (which it may possibly be sales wise in the USA). When you look at the Minelab gold nugget detector sales for Africa however, (Garrett sees these number too) it is no wonder that Garrett got the 24K to market as fast as it could and just changed the color scheme and some of the labeling. Up until now, Garrett literally has had NO competitive gold nugget prospecting detector aside from the military grade countermine ATX that they could effectively market in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. The ATX is a perfectly good pulse induction gold prospecting detector IF you can lift and swing it all day. Most people can't and won't. Compared to Minelab's comparable pulse induction gold prospecting detectors the ATX is a relic....... The "new" Garrett 24K however is a top of the line VLF gold prospecting detector and can easily compete with or out perform the Minelab Goldmonster 1000, Equinox 800, Fisher Gold Bug II, XP ORX/Depar600 or the Makro Gold Kruzer and their new GM2000 if the detecting ground is not extremely mineralized. The Equinox 800 still wins the prize in that kind of ground due to its Multi IQ technology. I have owned and used all of these specialty gold nugget prospecting VLF detectors so I am not just blowing hot air. I did not include the Garrett AT "Gold" (perfectly good relic/coin/jewerly detector) in that list along with any other sub 19khz detector. They can't compete with the 40kHz and higher gold detectors.

The Garrett (Whites) Goldmaster 24K is that good and Garrett can make a killing if they get it into the African gold prospecting market ASAP.

For you Minelab FBS lovers......the Etrac and CTX3030 are still in the 2022 model lineup and Minelab/Codan has not yet announced any new models for 2022.
Click to expand...


Garrett had the gold scorpion for years and it was sold as a gold machine. It was also one of Garrett's machines that found the legendary gold nugget called the Hand of Faith as it was featured in a few of the books Charles Garrett wrote.
 
mh9162013 said:
Technologically, maybe. But not in terms of market share or brand recognition in the US.

I never heard of Minelab until 2014 and when I did, I thought they were a company you'd find at Radio Shack or a yardsale.

I've been interested in metal detectors since the mid 1990s, although I didn't get my first one until about 7 years ago. All that time in the late 90s to early 2000s, I believed Garrett was the top of the line with Fisher and White's a close second. Tesoro was even lower than Bounty Hunter because of their heavy use of 9V batteries. I honestly though Tesoro was some retro-brand...like how audiophiles today might use cassette tapes for their music.
Click to expand...


Minelab was all over the treasure magazines since the 90s. Tesoro made several machines for other companies such as Pillar back in the 1980s and 1990s. The founder for Tesoro was making machines back in the 1970s too.
 
bigtim1973 said:
Garrett had the gold scorpion for years and it was sold as a gold machine. It was also one of Garrett's machines that found the legendary gold nugget called the Hand of Faith as it was featured in a few of the books Charles Garrett wrote.
Click to expand...


The Gold Scorpion (1990) was a 15 kHz VLF detector. Back in those days there was still a lot of surface to near surface larger gold. Now, the Gold Scorpion would be a lot like the AT Gold which basically replaced it. Great for near surface .5 gram and bigger gold or 6” to 10” deep really big coin sized or larger gold nuggets. Anything smaller or in high mineralization……..not happening.

The Hand of Faith (1980) weighed almost 60 pounds and was only a foot deep. A Harbor Freight detector would hit that target. Just imagine detecting a 20 pound dumbbell buried a foot deep.

Tesoro Lobo and then the Lobo Super Traq were my first detectors. They could ground balance fairly well in nasty dirt and at 18 kHz, they were pretty good for smaller gold.
 
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woodbutcher said:
Not sure what this thread is about :?: I’m assuming it’s another mine is better than yours?
Click to expand...

Why Minelab Is Top Dog.

You and many others probably will not agree.

Personally I don’t think any one detector is the best and that is not what this about.

The size of Minelab’s detector company and Codan (700+ employees) and the investor’s report that Longbow linked is pretty compelling about the size, scope, profit and willingness and ability to invest in new tech of Codan/Minelab.

Searching Linkedin for Codan, First Texas Products, Garrett and Nokta can provide some good information about these fine companies.
 
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kajunman said:
The Garrett name is everywhere. Fisher makes a walk through detector but I've never seen one. I've never seen an airport security hand held by Fisher either. Garrett employs around 300 people. I know that's more than Minelab.
Click to expand...

You're wrong. Minelab employ 700+ people, 30% of which are engineers, perhaps you need to read their report.

The good news for Garrett is I believe their 24k is better than the Gold Monster, the Gold Monster is a massive selling detector for Minelab especially in the African market (their biggest market by far - see the report), Garrett have far more chance than Whites did of selling the 24k around the world and overtaking the Gold Monster as the most popular VLF gold detector.
 

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