Acoustic guitar market share

[personatech]

Originally Posted by rschultz

Market share generally refers to $$$, units sold is different.

Not usually. From Wikipedia:

Market share is the percentage of a market (defined in terms of either units or revenue) accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67% responded that they found the revenue- "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.[1]

From the preceding posts, it seems that Martin touts its unit sales, not dollar sales. Dominating unit sales signifies (correctly or not) the relative popularity of a product and seeks to spur the crowd mentality, hence the constant battle of claims between Toyota, Honda, and Ford in the vehicle market.
(As an aside, Apple long ago forsook such claims and has pursued a business strategy of justifying higher margins at the expense of market share because they knew that was a battle they simply could not win).

To get somewhat back on topic, my gut suspects that Yamaha is the market leader in unit sales but, looking at what is stocked by GC, Samash, and other outlets, it may well be Epiphone. In fact, you could argue that it is the retailers and their choice of inventory that will determine the market leader.

[mercy]

It amazes me every year, year after year, that so many new guitars are sold. Add to that all the used sales over the last few years and I wonder, surely every person on the planet must own a guitar or several. I own 3 all are custom and not on any chart anywhere so theres another statistic to add to guitar sales, single builders.

[PiousDevil]

Originally Posted by mercy

It amazes me every year, year after year, that so many new guitars are sold. Add to that all the used sales over the last few years and I wonder, surely every person on the planet must own a guitar or several. I own 3 all are custom and not on any chart anywhere so theres another statistic to add to guitar sales, single builders.

Seriously, where the heck are all of these guitars going?

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by PiousDevil

Seriously, where the heck are all of these guitars going?

The human population is growing like crazy by about 80 million people each year. So even if a million acoustic guitars were made each year they would still be spread quite thin.

In another thread it was estimated that Eastman makes about 200,000 guitars per year. So they would rank up there among the most productive and popular brands.

[JBCROTTY]

Here is some interesting data from NAMM about the US market - electric and acoustic unit sales and dollar value from '97-'17 in the US (20 years). These are sales of NEW guitars in the US - this data does not include the used market.

The reality is that new unit sales in the US annually are just not big numbers.

https://www.quora.com/How-many-guita...e-USA-annually

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

Here is some interesting data from NAMM about the US market - electric and acoustic unit sales and dollar value from '97-'17 in the US (20 years). These are sales of NEW guitars in the US - this data does not include the used market.

The reality is that new unit sales in the US annually are just not big numbers.

https://www.quora.com/How-many-guita...e-USA-annually

Interesting information. It does appear that the trend is upward over the past decade. It looks like it’s gone from 1 million units in 2009 to about 1.5 million in 2017, a 50% increase.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Haasome

Interesting information. It does appear that the trend is upward over the past decade. It looks like it’s gone from 1 million units in 2009 to about 1.5 million in 2017, a 50% increase.

Time for another "Nobody buys guitars any more" thread.

[seannx]

Went to a Taylor Road Show last November, and the rep said production was 130,000/year, with 65% being the grand auditorium (x14) size.

[Cypress Knee]

If you read through the link to the following question, the average price of guitars has dropped from $590 to $353 over the past decade.

Apparently there are a lot of entry level guitars being sold.

I remember hearing Chris Martin talking about the post-2008 crash environment several years ago - Martin's entry level guitars made in Mexico did not suffer much of a hit, but anything between $2000 and $5000 was just sitting in retail stores with no buyers and no new orders.

People who populate this forum tend to be older with either or both more years of playing experience and more disposable income who prefer to buy more expensive American made guitars.

But I would guess that the bulk of the buyers tend to be the parents of teenagers who are not sure that their child's interest in learning to play a guitar matches up with a Taylor 814 or Martin D 45 price - so maybe buying a Jasmine the first time out is their preferred move.

CK

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

If you read through the link to the following question, the average price of guitars has dropped from $590 to $353 over the past decade.

Apparently there are a lot of entry level guitars being sold.

CK

I have no evidence, but I imagine this has always been true. People try it out with an inexpensive guitar, and then move along to the next shiny object.

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by Rhythmdoctor

That is too many guitars. I can't believe they sell that many or anywhere close.

The last S/N for Martin guitars in 2018 was 2258889. The last S/N in 2000 was 780500. That’s 1,478,389 guitars built in 18 years - ave. 82,132 guitars per annum.

How many of those 1,478,389 guitars remain unsold is anyone’s guess but, if they weren’t selling ‘em, I doubt they’d continue building ‘em in those numbers.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

[HFox]

I don't care....I'm done buying guitars...?????

[chippygreen]

Originally Posted by rschultz

Market share generally refers to $$$, units sold is different.

That's not necessarily true: see smart phones. Though the underlying point of how do you measure market share is very valid!

https://www.counterpointresearch.com...rtphone-share/

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

Martin made 84,937 guitars in 2017 (that may include Ukes).

Assuming a 5 day work week, that’s an average of 325.39 a day. This does not take into account holidays.

I wonder how many are made in the USA as opposed to Mexico.

[Sonics]

I'm guessing it's Yamaha. Yamaha dominate the entry level to medium price points for all instruments. They can also get their products into schools, department stores, catalogs and other places where you wouldn't traditionally find instruments due to their marketing practices.