AT Pro and Equinox users in Facebook groups

maxxkatt

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ok, first off I am not trying to start a war here. I am just interested in sales figures of AT Pro vs Equinox. Well that information is not to be had because both companies are private or don't report those figures.

But we can infer the popularity of each by then members of different facebook groups for the AT Pro and Equinox group members.

AT Pro has two Facebook groups of 2,700 and 2,300 members respectively.
Equinox has three Facebook groups with 7,200, 6,500 and 2,900 members respectively.

Of course there is overlap in membership between the 2 AT Pro groups as is there overlap between the three Equinox groups.

This is the best comparison I can find anywhere of relative popularity of the AT Pro vs the Equinox.

Before you start saying I am a Equinox lover and AT Pro basher, I have owned my AT Pro for 3 years and have owned my Equinx 800 since March 2018. I consider the AT Pro one of the best machines ever designed at that price point and STILL a fine machine. The Equinox 800 is a great machine, but a lot more difficult to learn if you are not coming from the Minelab camp.
 
I think there are more than 3 EQ FB groups. I'm a member on them , but hardly ever go on them anymore.
 
I've owned both too. I like them both. Who cares who's sold more? I don't think either company is in trouble. Is total sales a buying motivator for you? Or are you just starting a dialog that will inevitably lead to name calling?

I'll just stand by and watch this thread go down in flames. :lol:
 
I've owned both too. I like them both. Who cares who's sold more? I don't think either company is in trouble. Is total sales a buying motivator for you? Or are you just starting a dialog that will inevitably lead to name calling?

I'll just stand by and watch this thread go down in flames. :lol:

I was always curious who sold more. And in particular I am interested in seeing how Garrett responds with their new Apex detector.

what part of their detector line will they be trying to defend? The AT Pro or the Ace line?
 
I should know better than to participate in this thread, because I agree with SW - it’s going to devolve pretty quickly! But “moths to a flame”, as they say...

Anyway, if you’re talking about overall, lifetime sales, there’s no question. I don’t think there’s any doubt that the AT Pro has sold more units since it’s inception to date than the Equinox 800 and 600 combined, simply because the AT Pro has an insurmountable head start. Having been out on the market for about a decade, and enjoying huge market success during those years, means the Equinox will need more than its initial couple years of sales to match the AT Pro numbers. I’m sure the AT Pro isn’t achieving the same sales numbers as it did for the first several years after its release, but it still sells well, especially since the AT Max wasn’t as popular as Garrett would have hoped. Frankly, as long as the AT Pro is available for purchase, I don’t think any new detector can hope to surpass its unit sales numbers. Whenever it goes out of production, that might change, but who knows. Technology changes too fast now plus there’s more competition...I’m not sure any new detector can maintain sales relevance on the market for a decade or more like you could if you released in 2010. All that said, what does a comparison of overall sales for two models released 8 years apart tell you about their relative popularity? Absolutely nothing, in my opinion.

If you’re talking about a current, monthly sales comparison...who knows, and again I agree with SW: who cares. Garrett isn’t in trouble financially - they’re well diversified beyond hobby detectors. And Minelab is certainly healthy, too. If you had a good personal relationship with enough retailers, you might be able to put together a big enough sample size to get respectable information, but I’m not sure it’ll tell you anything meaningful or Earth-shattering. To me, it’s like comparing apples to oranges, because I believe the metal detector sales landscape has changed pretty drastically over the last 10 years. If the AT Pro sales numbers have dropped compared to 5 years ago, is it really because the detector is less popular? Or is it just because the marketplace has been flooded with many more options? Or is it because metal detecting is slowly declining in overall popularity? Or all of the above? If one could get accurate info and actually compare the Equinox vs AT Pro worldwide unit sales numbers for the last month, how do we compare them? Group both 600 and 800 sales together? If we do that, should we include AT Max and AT Gold in with the AT Pro? What about the Vanquish models? You can make the case that Vanquish made a dent in Minelab’s own Equinox “popularity”, but maybe took some sales away from the AT Pro, too. What about the used market - how do we correlate those used sales with new sales and what do those unknown used sales numbers say about overall popularity? Finally, does Garrett and/or Minelab even care about individual unit popularity as much as overall market share? In other words, let’s say 60 out of 100 new metal detectors being sold are Garrett machines...I’m not sure if Garrett is worried about whether 40 of those 60 machines is an AT Pro or an Ace 400 if they’ve got command of the overall market.
 
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I forgot to mention that AT Max has two facebook groups of 2,200 and 2,300 users each. I didn't lump them into the AT pro search and should have.

I also forgot to mention but notice that they do have one overall Garrett metal detector groups with 22,000 members. And mine lab has a group called minelab with 9,000 members.

Could not find any metal detector group on Facebook for the Ace line which is kind of odd.

No I am not worried about Garrett financially nor minelab. Garrett has huge security detector division which means nothing to the hobby other than they could or should have a huge R&D budget for the hobby division.

I am hoping the new Apex is a great success that challenges the Equinox series that will force the competition to do likewise. But of course that begs another question about how much more advanced can we go with our metal detecting technology?

Some say we have reached the depth limits. Well that is ok with me because realistically what is below 12 inches? And where I dig in north georgia hills there are tough roots and rocks to get through and after about 10 minutes digging I usually say to heck with that signal especially if it is not solid and move on.

Yes people are still buying the AT Pro, ran into two newbies in the park last month with new AT Pros.

Add more features? Heck the 800 has all the features I wish to deal with. On some days I just take my Vanquish 540 out for some park hunting because it is so simple to use. But always take the 800 CW relic hunting.

So my underlying curiosity makes we wonder what will the Apex be? A serious offering or a paint job for either the Ace or AT Pro line?

Anyway May 15 is tomorrow and that will be a fun reveal.
 
I've owned both too. I like them both. Who cares who's sold more? I don't think either company is in trouble. Is total sales a buying motivator for you? Or are you just starting a dialog that will inevitably lead to name calling?

I'll just stand by and watch this thread go down in flames. :lol:
Very good points.....
 
Oh good another my detector is better than yours.

What is wrong with just using what detector works best for you and be done with comparisons.
 
I’m looking forward..to the new Apex by Garrett. I hope it’s a winner and wish Garrett the best of luck on its release.
As long as the item is a detector I like them all. Even a carrott on a stick!
 
No I am not worried about Garrett financially nor minelab.

If there is a detector company to be worried about, it's Whites. They've discontinued the V3 line, so do they have something in the pipeline ?
 
I was always curious who sold more. And in particular I am interested in seeing how Garrett responds with their new Apex detector.

what part of their detector line will they be trying to defend? The AT Pro or the Ace line?

Hopefully they won't be defending either line as the Apex is new tech all the way around. At some point all detectors get phased out over time. It's inevitable. Lets hope the Apex pushes the bar higher. I for one want a deep detector. The Nox isn't real deep. That's why I have an F75. A combo multi frequency of the F75 and Nox would be outstanding. Though I wonder if the Apex will be more like the MDT 8000 detector, single frequency and works in salt water ?
 
I closed my FB account years ago when my elderly aunts starting using it. Just a lot of gossip and recipes on that site now...
 
I closed my FB account years ago when my elderly aunts starting using it. Just a lot of gossip and recipes on that site now...

If you really think about it FBT , there's a lot of recipes here too... and gossip about detectors coming out...
 
Like the original poster, I too am interested in sales numbers.
I have used Garrett's ever since I began detecting Ace 250 then AT PRO (still use the PRO)
I tired an Etrac, 3030, Equinox 600 (still have it) and now another Etrac.
IMHO, no brand is really better than the other overall, just better at some things.
It seems that marketing, hype and buzz are just about as important as performance nowadays.
 
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