POV: Beltronics brand vs. Escort brand

[RoadWarrior/RW]

This is my contribution/reply to the thread and comment one of the forum members has started or just commented on other official RD forums:

Escort to do for 2014 - Escort Radar Forum

band segmentation - Beltronics Radar Forum

So, why, IMO, Escort Inc has no intention on modernizing/upgrading/improving its Beltronics Division/Brand/Products, for two and just two reasons.

Reason #1: DEMOGRAPHICS. I’m gonna start with the best example possible, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, why NBC will replace him with Jimmy Fallon knowing that Jay has got the highest ratings among ALL late night show hosts, Jay Leno’s audience are mostly older ppl, 40 maybe 50+ yo therefore mostly conservative, also he’s the one with the most anti-Obama jokes among all late night show hosts, when Jimmy Fallon (same for Jon Stewart) has got mostly young (or younger) ppl as his devoted audience/followers and these young ppl are mostly progressive/liberal therefore pro same-sex marriage, pro pot, pro global warming policies, pro legalization of 12+M illegals in USA and of course anti-war, all Obama’s main policies, so, Jay Leno vs Jimmy Fallon, older and mostly conservative vs younger and mostly liberal/progressive, back to our RD subject, Beltronics = Jay Leno, Escort = Jimmy Fallon (or Jon Stewart), all comes down to DEMOGRAPHICS, the age of those that own a Beltronics RD vs the age of those that own an Escort RD. NBC knows that (that’s why getting rid of Jay Leno and replacing him with Jimmy Fallon), Escort Inc knows that as well: DEMOGRAPHICS of today’s America, very different from America of before 2009.

Reason #2: Origin of the Brand, Escort Brand vs Beltronics Brand. Escort Inc (and American company located in rural Ohio) acquired Beltronics Inc (a Canadian company located inside a 5+M ppl urban area) in 1999:

http://www.beltronics.com/manuals/v960940manual.pdf

Escort buys Canadian competitor

Until maybe 5 years ago, Beltronics products were the most popular on the market (that’s why Escort bought out Beltronics), unfortunately (for Beltronics brand) Beltronics will always be a CANADIAN Brand and not an American Brand (like Escort products, Escort RedLine for instance) and, maybe (this is my personal opinion only, cannot verify it but also nobody can provide legitimate proof that I’m wrong) somebody at the high level at Escort Inc does not like much Canada as in Canada’s anti-progressive policies in the past 8 years since our very right-wing conservative govt has been in power, Canada = OIL/Keystone Pipeline, maybe one (or more) big shots at Escort Inc is very much an environmentalist therefore anti-oil/Keystone Pipeline and therefore anti-Canada, so, why not, let’s “punish” the Beltronics Division for being Canadian and therefore invest all assets, R&D, manpower, engineering, etc. into the American Brand aka Escort products only.

Here you go, that’s why, IMO, Beltronics Brand has not seen a brand-new product in many years (Magnum is a slightly improved STI Driver therefore does not qualify as brand-new) and wont see anything new in the feature, that’s why all new Escort Inc products will be the Escort brand only, that’s why at CEMA in Vegas Escort Inc has promoted Escort products only, that’s why Escort Inc entire R&D Division plus all the money is going into the Escort brand products only.

Personally I think Reason #1 counts for at least 80% of the slowly-but-surely elimination of the Beltronics brand, Reason #2 is just a simple personal guess with no proof whatsoever.

Hopefully nine_c1 will be satisfied with my reply to his Escort Forum thread. If not, I strongly encourage him and others to challenge me on anything I’ve written in this post.

PS As a Proud Canadian I obviously support anything that's truly Canadian (Beltronics brand in this case), Made in Canada as well (as ALL Escort/Beltronics products are), but put aside that patriotic thing, I LOVE how Beltronics RDs look like compared to Escort ones (RedLine with that damn lip is horrible in design), also I love my STI Driver ramp-up and how it's done such excellent job for me so far.

[nine_c1]

This is my contribution/reply to the thread and comment one of the forum members has started or just commented on other official RD forums:

Escort to do for 2014 - Escort Radar Forum

band segmentation - Beltronics Radar Forum

So, why, IMO, Escort Inc has no intention on modernizing/upgrading/improving its Beltronics Division/Brand/Products, for two and just two reasons.

Reason #1: DEMOGRAPHICS. I’m gonna start with the best example possible, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, why NBC will replace him with Jimmy Fallon knowing that Jay has got the highest ratings among ALL late night show hosts, Jay Leno’s audience are mostly older ppl, 40 maybe 50+ yo therefore mostly conservative, also he’s the one with the most anti-Obama jokes among all late night show hosts, when Jimmy Fallon (same for Jon Stewart) has got mostly young (or younger) ppl as his devoted audience/followers and these young ppl are mostly progressive/liberal therefore pro same-sex marriage, pro pot, pro global warming policies, pro legalization of 12+M illegals in USA and of course anti-war, all Obama’s main policies, so, Jay Leno vs Jimmy Fallon, older and mostly conservative vs younger and mostly liberal/progressive, back to our RD subject, Beltronics = Jay Leno, Escort = Jimmy Fallon (or Jon Stewart), all comes down to DEMOGRAPHICS, the age of those that own a Beltronics RD vs the age of those that own an Escort RD. NBC knows that (that’s why getting rid of Jay Leno and replacing him with Jimmy Fallon), Escort Inc knows that as well: DEMOGRAPHICS of today’s America, very different from America of before 2009.

Reason #2: Origin of the Brand, Escort Brand vs Beltronics Brand. Escort Inc (and American company located in rural Ohio) acquired Beltronics Inc (a Canadian company located inside a 5+M ppl urban area) in 1999:

http://www.beltronics.com/manuals/v960940manual.pdf

Escort buys Canadian competitor

Until maybe 5 years ago, Beltronics products were the most popular on the market (that’s why Escort bought out Beltronics), unfortunately (for Beltronics brand) Beltronics will always be a CANADIAN Brand and not an American Brand (like Escort products, Escort RedLine for instance) and, maybe (this is my personal opinion only, cannot verify it but also nobody can provide legitimate proof that I’m wrong) somebody at the high level at Escort Inc does not like much Canada as in Canada’s anti-progressive policies in the past 8 years since our very right-wing conservative govt has been in power, Canada = OIL/Keystone Pipeline, maybe one (or more) big shots at Escort Inc is very much an environmentalist therefore anti-oil/Keystone Pipeline and therefore anti-Canada, so, why not, let’s “punish” the Beltronics Division for being Canadian and therefore invest all assets, R&D, manpower, engineering, etc. into the American Brand aka Escort products only.

Here you go, that’s why, IMO, Beltronics Brand has not seen a brand-new product in many years (Magnum is a slightly improved STI Driver therefore does not qualify as brand-new) and wont see anything new in the feature, that’s why all new Escort Inc products will be the Escort brand only, that’s why at CEMA in Vegas Escort Inc has promoted Escort products only, that’s why Escort Inc entire R&D Division plus all the money is going into the Escort brand products only.

Personally I think Reason #1 counts for at least 80% of the slowly-but-surely elimination of the Beltronics brand, Reason #2 is just a simple personal guess with no proof whatsoever.

Hopefully nine_c1 will be satisfied with my reply to his Escort Forum thread. If not, I strongly encourage him and others to challenge me on anything I’ve written in this post.

PS As a Proud Canadian I obviously support anything that's truly Canadian (Beltronics brand in this case), Made in Canada as well (as ALL Escort/Beltronics products are), but put aside that patriotic thing, I LOVE how Beltronics RDs look like compared to Escort ones (RedLine with that damn lip is horrible in design), also I love my STI Driver ramp-up and how it's done such excellent job for me so far.

I'm not sure about Bel being the most popular brand (in terms of sales) in the 90's, but they certainly were an engineering power house in the field of radar detection. From what I remember back in that time frame, the speculation was that Bel would buy out Escort.....the remnants from CMI's bankruptcy dismantlement......but in a surprise move, Escort bought up Bel.

That may not have been a question of who made better detectors at the time, but rather that the investor that took over Escort had the financial resources to gobble up Bel as well.

That guy's name is Greg Blair and I have nothing but respect for the man. Here was an investor that wanted to put Escort back on the map as a producer of the world's finest radar detectors. To do that, he needed cutting edge technology and an engineering team serious about building leading edge detectors.........so he aquired Bel. The Passport 8500 was the 1st serious detector produced by Escort and the motor under the hood was a Bel design, the legendary S7 antenna.

The only issue was whether or not to dissolve the Bel.....newly named Beltronics.....brand and fly under one flag. They decided against it for the very reason you pointed out, Bel loyalist. That brand still had a significant following, more so in Europe than here in North America, so why kill it?

At the time and even up to 2008, Escort was still producing unique technology and arguably the BEST detectors under the Beltronics brand name. For instance the vaunted M3 antenna platform was introduced in the Bel STi Driver in 2005 and the Godfather of all detectors (even to this day) the STi-R remote which rolled out in 2007. So the M3 remained exclusive to the Beltronics brand until the mid part of 2008 when Escort released it as the 9500ci.....then later in October of 09 for the RedLine.

Granted, the Escort brand has always been treated as the flagship brand. The performance of the original STi Driver was kneecapped so as not to overshadow it's Escort counterparts in detector tests.....however, it had essentially the same better quality RF hardware as today's RedLine (wire bonded LNA). The performance found in the new Magnum over the old Driver was basically taking out that knee capped code......but then they put in a less expensive LNA on the K/Ka circuit so that the Escort retains it's edge. Likewise, the STi-R was pulled off the market shortly after the release of the 9500ci and later replaced with the STi-R Plus which also uses the less expensive LNA......but at least the BS/RDR firmware more than makes up for that.

But back to why the favoritism towards the Escort Brand. Well, I suppose this is one instance where you may be right.....the Escort brand is better known as an American brand where Bel (if known) was known to be Canadian. The Escort brand was given it's fame here in America back when it was actually produced as a model by Cincinnati Microwave......and since MOST detectors are sold here in the US, it's the natural selection based on notoriety alone.

But this is now over a decade later and people are always looking for something new and better from someone else. A ripe oppurtunity to give the Beltronics brand something great and unique to set them apart. There are still two marketing departments dedicated to their brands as I understand, so it's time for the boyz at Bel to approach the CEO enforce and set their agenda.

The next Bel should be an arse kicken detector true to it's heritage......that is designed for the professional driver with all options available to make it the sharpest detector at detecting radar period. Leave all those bels and whistles that make for a quiet ride to the luxury brand Escort, and give us unbridled range. If we want it to behave in town we can always link it to EscortLive.

[RoadWarrior/RW]

But back to why the favoritism towards the Escort Brand. Well, I suppose this is one instance where you may be right.....the Escort brand is better known as an American brand where Bel (if known) was known to be Canadian. The Escort brand was given it's fame here in America back when it was actually produced as a model by Cincinnati Microwave......and since MOST detectors are sold here in the US, it's the natural selection based on notoriety alone.

But you are never gonna hear THAT from Escort Inc's mouth, as in "our market is the US market, Escort is an American Brand, and therefore we concentrate on the American Brand ONLY". Do you think Escort Rep on the Escort forum will ever reply to your thread? NEVER, why, cause as a Private Company you should never put nationalism over profit or at least friendly competition btwn products.

BTW, ALL Escort Brand products are all CANADIAN, on each and every Escort Brand product it does not say "Engineered/Designed in USA, Manufactured in Canada" as the official world is out there (for ignorant and uneducated ppl of course), at the beck of each Escort Brand prouct you see "Made in Canada" and nothing else, therefore regardless where the company is located all that matters is what says on the product: MADE IN CANADA.

The next Bel should be an arse kicken detector true to it's heritage......that is designed for the professional driver with all options available to make it the sharpest detector at detecting radar period

It wont be any next Beltronics RD, the business decision has been made, Escort Brand Division is where Escort Inc is gonna focus all its R&D money for next products. Beltronics Division will soon disappear, exactly like Sprint (after acquiring Nextel) has decided to shut down the entire IDEN Direct Connect Network and replacing it with the 4G LTE Network.

[fire65]

deleted

[RoadWarrior/RW]

You two do realize that no one really cares about your great debates. And what is really bad is, you probably a couple of the best informed RD people on this site. It is a damn shame you continually have to prove your self to no one but you.

Can you try and speak some plain English, please?

Apparently it's not just me with such particular... "debates" AND personal POVs:

Beltronics...It Is Time! - Beltronics Radar Forum

Feel free to go after Veil Guy as well.

[RoadWarrior/RW]

To Beltronics Rep on Beltronics Forum:

Beltronics...It Is Time! - Beltronics Radar Forum

"I created and manage both the Escort and Beltronics forums and was the official Escort rep on RD.net when that forum was active".

That explains EVERYTHING, so you are the one that calls the shots on BOTH Forums, Escort AND Beltronics, until now everybody was believing that different ppl manage the Beltronics Forum. We WERE WRONG. Now we know that Escort Brand Forum Admin is the same as Beltronics Brand Forum Admin.

Therefore an honest question for YOU: why did you create two DIFFERENT forums instead of one like this very forum, so allowing every Beltronics and/or Escort RD user interact to each other in one new forum exactly as they have always been able to do on this very forum? When YOU separate ppl into different classes for me that's called SEGREGATION. You don't like the word, so be it. It's called FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

"We are aware that some prefer Beltronics products while others prefer Escort products and we plan to continue offering both".

The point here is that in the past 4 years you have not come-up with anything new on the BELTRONICS Brand Division while for the Escort Brand you have put all the R&D and money into, did you go to last SEMA Editions with any Beltronics product? Do you really think ppl are so stupid not to realize you have no interest on MODERNIZING/UPDATING or CREATING A BRAND-NEW Beltronics RD same as you have done with Escort RedLine, Passport Max, IQ, etc. in the past years? For you Escort Brand is for the ELITES while Beltronics Brand is for the poor aka losers.

I've done a simple test, searched for the words SEMA and CES on both forums, Escort Forum and Beltronics Forum, and here you go, the OPEN results, 2010 last time when you went to SEMA with a Beltronics Product.

http://escortradarforum.com/forums/s...earchid=668533

http://www.beltronicsradarforum.com/...searchid=45240

What has Escort Inc done for the Beltronics Brand in the past 3-4 years compared to the Escort Brand?

And btw, this very forum is not dead at all, as much as YOU would like to think of.

PS And here right off Beltronics' Official Mouth:

http://www.beltronicsradarforum.com/...ead.php?t=1235

"Not in the forseeable future (ie next year or more)"

BELTRONICS' FATE HAS BEEN ALREADY SEALED BY ESCORT INC.