Garrett Bought Whites!!!

I like it!:good:

I do as well, John. Growing and buying another company, strengthening their position in the detector world is better for all. I know Whites has a patent that never materialized into production. It combines vlf and pulse. I'm interested to see if Garrett can do something with that patent.

I always thought Whites could expand their V3I tech with more horsepower and frequencies while also making it waterproof. I hope they keep the Digmaster, imo it's the best hand digger. Garrett has lots of options. A lot of questions as well. Such as will the AT Gold be replaced by the Whites Goldmaster GMX ? It's waterproof and has a screen similar to the Apex. The TRX is not for me but many like it. Just another option now from Garrett.

What will Fisher do ?
 
I just dont see why Garrett feels whites has anything they want or need at this point. The only tech I can see them modifying or enhancing would be the V3i, other than that, Garrett has run circles around whites for many years. What does garrett have to gain from this purchase is my question? I just dont see many positives for us, the consumer is all. Still waiting for a flagship from Garrett :impatient: the Apex was a step in the right direction, but IMO, they need something bigger, and better. Possibly a dedicated beach rig, with true multifrequency or a high end waterproof multifrequency unit. Only time will tell, but I'm still questioning this acquisition by Garrett. I'm a Garrett's fan, but the last few years have really changed my opinion about that company, to the point where I dont even own a Garrett machine anymore. They must have SOMETHING up their sleeves right?!?! :?: :iwish:
 
I just dont see why Garrett feels whites has anything they want or need at this point. The only tech I can see them modifying or enhancing would be the V3i, other than that, Garrett has run circles around whites for many years. What does garrett have to gain from this purchase is my question? I just dont see many positives for us, the consumer is all. Still waiting for a flagship from Garrett :impatient: the Apex was a step in the right direction, but IMO, they need something bigger, and better. Possibly a dedicated beach rig, with true multifrequency or a high end waterproof multifrequency unit. Only time will tell, but I'm still questioning this acquisition by Garrett. I'm a Garrett's fan, but the last few years have really changed my opinion about that company, to the point where I dont even own a Garrett machine anymore. They must have SOMETHING up their sleeves right?!?! :?: :iwish:

Isn't the Whites TDI beach detector kind of tops for beach pulse detectors ? Also, we aren't privy to any intellectual property that's included in the purchase. Whites may have been working on something and didn't want to spend the funds from research to production.

Apex was just the beginning. I thought it was a smart move to start with the lower line SMF then move on to something bigger and better. I think it's a great acquisition for Garrett.
 
Lol Garrett is on the move by buying a company that already went out of business?? Not many business folks in here I guess. It's not like they bought out the competition and gobbled up a bunch of market share. They didn't buy any cutting edge tech or patents either. Whites hasn't made any relevant tech or machines in years. If they were on the move they would buy out an up and coming competitor like Nokta/Makro or actually make a machine that could compete with Minelab equinox, Etrac, or CTX. This is an odd business move IMO. But I assume they paid next to nothing for the Whites brand since it was already dead and out of business. So not much to lose I guess.

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I just dont see why Garrett feels whites has anything they want or need at this point. The only tech I can see them modifying or enhancing would be the V3i, other than that, Garrett has run circles around whites for many years. What does garrett have to gain from this purchase is my question? I just dont see many positives for us, the consumer is all. Still waiting for a flagship from Garrett :impatient: the Apex was a step in the right direction, but IMO, they need something bigger, and better. Possibly a dedicated beach rig, with true multifrequency or a high end waterproof multifrequency unit. Only time will tell, but I'm still questioning this acquisition by Garrett. I'm a Garrett's fan, but the last few years have really changed my opinion about that company, to the point where I dont even own a Garrett machine anymore. They must have SOMETHING up their sleeves right?!?! :?: :iwish:

Kajunman made some great points, but I'd also like to add that it's also possibility this was less of a R&D move and more of a ruthless business decision. Perhaps White's didn't have anything Garrett wanted, but Garrett knew White's had something their competitors would want.
 
Carl Moreland said before he left he was working on something very new that might have had some promise but it was shutdown before anything became if it.
There could have been something exciting and new designed after he left but he says they had a history of not treating their engineers so great, considered them a dime a dozen which is why he left, others probably too, and if that was actually their attitude how many forward thinking, smart engineers could they have hired in the years after?
Carl said there wasn't much that he knew about happening there that could have worth to any other company, but again, he hasn't been there for a few years.

As already stated this could be a pure business move, supposedly their repair business always made them some money so it might not be a huge moneymaker for Garrett but something they can easily absorb and profit off of.
That would be great for Whites owners if it happens, supposedly other repair centers for their products are starting up but single owner small ones by old employees so who knows if they can make a go of it.
The Centreville repair centers are still repairing Whites products but now they will need to contract with Garrett to keep doing that, I assume.

Companies have been known to absorb other competitors and continue making their products but a lot of that has to do with manufacturing costs and how easily they can blend competitors models into their existing business and manufacturing lines.
Whites detectors and Garrett detectors are different so might not be as easy as pie to continue manufacturing their models even with the Whites tooling that they bought if they even want to keep making current Whites models for the market.
Also the Garrett announcement stated they acquired White’s trademarks, intellectual property, tooling, and other assets and that "Garrett intends to rigorously defend all of White’s trademarks, patents, and other IP wherever infringement may occur".
Forgive me if I am missing something but nowhere is it mentioned in that statement that Garrett intends to continue to make any existing White's model or any new models based on their designs now or anytime in the future or any mention of repairing anything, either.
They very well might be, but you would think there might have been a mention of doing any of that if it was in their current plans, all they actually said is "We at Garrett are proud to combine our respective legacies".
But what does that actually mean?

Being the devil's advocate here buying all this stuff and vowing to defend all their patents and IP's sounds positive but it also could very well mean they are actually intending to bury this company and this was indeed just a preventative measure to stop any other entity, small or very large with some money, from starting up the Whites business model again, make detectors even in a limited capacity and becoming even a small thorn in their side anytime in the future.
The Whites name still means something, another company could think about buying that name and start making detectors under the Whites name again but nothing like what they made up til now...more of a cash grab because people sometimes buy products by name and reputation only assuming everything is the same as it has always been.
Not that Whites owners would want this to happen but people and companies lie and wave enough money in anybody's face and stranger things can happen.
Anybody ever hear of a company called Bell and Howell?
Us older folks know that name well.
A well respected and innovative company started in 1907 that was a pretty big force in the still camera, film camera, microfilm industries and more for decades.
Now that same name is on products like flashlights, bug repellers and other really cheap products mostly sold through cheesy ads on late night tv.
There is precedent in the business world for doing this sort of buying up complete companies thing, by some very large manufacturing companies that have spent way more than probably what Garrett might have spent to do this very thing to get rid of at least one competitor forever.
I hope this isn't the case, loyal Whites customers both old and new deserve better and maybe this is going to be a good thing going forward after all.
Then again nobody really knows at this time what is going to happen.
Fingers crossed it goes the good way with continued model offerings and service that everyone hopes will happen and not the bad way where they continue on as a name only and nothing else...but we will see.
 
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Excellent points DIGGER27, I believe Garrett simply wants to make sure that no one else can use the White's name and reputation. I do hope this sale will help out the White's family, employees included.
 
Excellent points DIGGER27, I believe Garrett simply wants to make sure that no one else can use the White's name and reputation. I do hope this sale will help out the White's family, employees included.

I was in retail for several decades, I have seen a few things.
I can see the possibility if this didn't happen somebody could have bought the whole shebang, sell all the tooling or get rid of it for scrap, contract with some Chinese company and start pumping out very cheap products with the Whites name sold online or through big box stores.
It has been said FTP makes a ton on their Bounty Hunter line, maybe more than all the rest.
A line of very low cost detectors with the Whites name on them might compete very well in that sector.
Who is going to know the truth before they buy, the bulk of the consumers don't actually do much research before they purchase most anything, and despite all the forums only a tiny insignificant percentage of the population is on them or even knows about them.
We can all yell and spread the word if this were to happen, the dealers could too, but most of the people out there that buy lower end detectors for gifts or whatever would never know what really happened.
The Whites name has been around a long time, many people that know nothing about detectors actually might have heard of the Whites name over the years and that could stick.
It would work in the favor for any company that tried to do this.
No matter what is in store for the Whites brand in the future now none of that can happen, Garrett made sure of that.
 
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I was in retail for several decades, I have seen a few things.
I can see the possibility if this didn't happen somebody could have bought the whole shebang, sell all the tooling or get rid of it for scrap, contract with some Chinese company and start pumping out very cheap products with the Whites name sold online or through big box stores.

It would work in the favor for any company that tried to do this.
No matter what is in store for the Whites brand in the future now none of that can happen, Garrett made sure of that.
I partly agree with your comments, but only to a point. Everything changes when you get to cheap foreign product intrusion ... and you even used it in your post.

At first, Teknetics and Bounty Hunter were acquired when they went under, but only the Bounty Hunter models were produced. That was until Dave Johnson convinced the owners to use the Teknetics brand they owned and bring it back to life, which happened when they designed the Teknetics T2.

We ended up with FTP also buying out Fisher Labs and they now are known to produce three separate brands of Bounty Hunter, Fisher and Teknetics. But in the case of Garrett acquiring White's, I am kind of hesitant to see them continue producing two different name brands. I've used White's since mid-'68 and Garrett since early '69 and both have offered some models that I have really enjoyed.

But to me, they were, and are, two different companies. They had some different product offerings, marketing approaches and other little 'differences' between them, just like we have seen in other multi-manufacturing businesses, such as cars and trucks, or firearms, etc.

I can see them making the move to protect the patents and intellectual designs they were able to acquire. And I can see them ignoring a lot of the White's models that were or are not of much commercial value. But of the entire White's product line at the time they closed the doors, there are only a few models that I feel were or are competitive in the market today.

I would like to see a few of those models retained and offered by Garrett, but do some revamping of their own product line to fit some of these in, and perhaps rewind and tune some of their search coils to work on some of the White's products. For example, I like the 5X8 DD of the AT series, and wouldn't mind seeing that wound and connectored-up to work on an MX-7 and MX Sport. A very good and proven land-based and waterproof pair of detectors using the same circuitry.

But what I would like to see is Garrett Metal Detectors remain Garrett Metal Detectors. They own the patents and rights for the designs, and the SMF V3i, but I would simply make the better models yet rename them a Garrett product. Use the acquired written documentation, but simply make them a Garrett product and not a separate brand.

Back to China or some other foreign maker. All they have to do to be a little different is slightly change the name. Garrett acquired White's. In your post you typed Whites, and without the ' in there it is technically a different name and I could see a foreign maker offering copies with a slightly different name to fool folks. Then again, they might not care and could make copies anyway as they have with some other brands and models. It costs $$$$ to go after them, and they know that.

Just my thoughts as I am glad to see someone acquired the important part of the dead company, but feel any future production of the better models ought to now be a Garrett detector.

Monte
 
Acquiring existing companies and turning them to a new name happens almost daily. It’s the nature of the “business “ beast. I’m not surprised Garrett bought White’s. Where I work has been bought 3 times . I’ve been there 21 years.
 
Garrett Doing Business

"The transaction includes White’s trademarks, intellectual property, tooling, and other assets. It does not include White’s real estate in Oregon or Scotland. Garrett intends to rigorously defend all of White’s trademarks, patents, and other IP wherever infringement may occur.

Novakovich continued, “Garrett recognizes that the White’s brand has a loyal following in the US and around the world. We are pleased to welcome those customers to Garrett, and we hope we can earn your future business.”

Garrett still doing it right.
 
Kajunman made some great points, but I'd also like to add that it's also possibility this was less of a R&D move and more of a ruthless business decision. Perhaps White's didn't have anything Garrett wanted, but Garrett knew White's had something their competitors would want.
I'd bet they just didn't want first texas to get it.
 
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