Friday, July 22, 2005
Market share for stun gun manufacturers will grow to hinge upon weapons’ safety
Taser International cannot remain the only player in stun gun technology forever. The more competition, the better the result will be for civilians and law enforcement.
Among companies other than Taser to publicize their stun gun technology this past year, Stinger Systems and Law Enforcement Associates Corporation (LEA), two smaller manufacturers, have been the most notable. One of these smaller firms now trades on the American Stock Exchange.
A LEA press release dated July 11 announced that the “American Stock Exchange has approved [LEA’s] application for the listing of its common stock.” On the heels of the American Stock Exchange itself making a related statement about LEA on July 15, a column by Seth Jayson the same day at The Motley Fool chronicled the writer’s opinions regarding LEA and other companies that seemingly aspire to Taser’s market position.
Some in the media may have their misgivings about the smaller stun gun manufacturers’ legitimacy or viability, but Taser is not invincible. The world’s largest stun gun technology maker’s hegemony in the marketplace is bound to weaken sooner or later. Whether LEA or Stinger—or even some other company nobody is writing about yet—lays claim to solid territory is not a question of if, but when.
A driving determinant for winners and losers in the market for stun gun manufacturing will be the safety of these weapons. The safety of stun guns is all we hear from the non-business press, and I predict the company that creates the safest stun gun will command the largest market share over time.
Stories in the media are driving the market, and all these companies have strong hunches about where this market is headed. It is my hunch they anticipate that weapon safety will evolve into a major factor affecting stock value. And this is only logical, as stun gun technology’s genesis was the quest to invent a weapon safer than the traditional firearm.
We have seen all three of these companies—Stinger, LEA, and Taser—make overt statements about the safety of their stun guns. There is money to be made in stun gun technology, and whoever figures out how to reconcile public opinion with the promise of less-than-lethal weaponry is poised to make lots of money indeed.
Taser International cannot remain the only player in stun gun technology forever. The more competition, the better the result will be for civilians and law enforcement.
Among companies other than Taser to publicize their stun gun technology this past year, Stinger Systems and Law Enforcement Associates Corporation (LEA), two smaller manufacturers, have been the most notable. One of these smaller firms now trades on the American Stock Exchange.
A LEA press release dated July 11 announced that the “American Stock Exchange has approved [LEA’s] application for the listing of its common stock.” On the heels of the American Stock Exchange itself making a related statement about LEA on July 15, a column by Seth Jayson the same day at The Motley Fool chronicled the writer’s opinions regarding LEA and other companies that seemingly aspire to Taser’s market position.
Some in the media may have their misgivings about the smaller stun gun manufacturers’ legitimacy or viability, but Taser is not invincible. The world’s largest stun gun technology maker’s hegemony in the marketplace is bound to weaken sooner or later. Whether LEA or Stinger—or even some other company nobody is writing about yet—lays claim to solid territory is not a question of if, but when.
A driving determinant for winners and losers in the market for stun gun manufacturing will be the safety of these weapons. The safety of stun guns is all we hear from the non-business press, and I predict the company that creates the safest stun gun will command the largest market share over time.
Stories in the media are driving the market, and all these companies have strong hunches about where this market is headed. It is my hunch they anticipate that weapon safety will evolve into a major factor affecting stock value. And this is only logical, as stun gun technology’s genesis was the quest to invent a weapon safer than the traditional firearm.
We have seen all three of these companies—Stinger, LEA, and Taser—make overt statements about the safety of their stun guns. There is money to be made in stun gun technology, and whoever figures out how to reconcile public opinion with the promise of less-than-lethal weaponry is poised to make lots of money indeed.
# posted by IDTheftSecurity.com @ 7:29 AM 
