3 ms·

What is the real significance here? They are a single manufacturer of a standardized style. Is this part of a trend of lower sales? Some kind of non-business m

What is the real significance here? They are a single manufacturer of a standardized style. Is this part of a trend of lower sales? Some kind of non-business motivation (politics, pressure, etc.)? Or just a business with a product that doesn't compete? I'm not sure there's a lot of intellectual content here either. The AR-15 itself isn't much different from other rifles except it looks scarier. Which is largely because it's made of modern, mass-producible materials rather than wood.

binaryblitz 7y ago
> Is this part of a trend of lower sales? "Colt Firearms will be ending its production and sales of its AR-15 rifles due to lack of public demand amid excess market capacity." It's the first thing on the page...
- jeffdavis 7y ago
  That's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down, or just for Colt's AR-15. Seems like just Colt's, which means this doesn't seem to matter a lot.
  - goatinaboat 7y ago
    That's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down Thanks to Robert Francis O’Rourke AR-15 sales overall are having another record month.
  - AdrianB1 7y ago
    It was explained that Colt is too expensive on a competitive AR-15 market.
rayiner 7y ago
Gun sales are up: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gun-sales-surge-15-driven-by-self-protection-pelosi-schumer-demand-for-limits https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gun-sa.... There has been a bit of a slump in 2017-2018 as the industry corrects for what was a huge boom during the Obama years, but gun sales are still up dramatically over the 21st century to date.
partialrecall 7y ago
It's about as significant as IBM dropping out of the PC market because Dell,etc are preferred by consumers. The platform is standardized and the vast majority of AR-15s the public own have no Colt parts in them. Colt are a big name, but from the perspective of the home consumer they are no longer significant.
egdod 7y ago
Demand for AR-15s is high. Demand for Colt AR-15s is not. Colt makes a perfectly ok rifle, but the premium they charge is not justified, and buyers know it.

binaryblitz 7y ago

> Is this part of a trend of lower sales? "Colt Firearms will be ending its production and sales of its AR-15 rifles due to lack of public demand amid excess market capacity." It's the first thing on the page...

jeffdavis 7y ago
That's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down, or just for Colt's AR-15. Seems like just Colt's, which means this doesn't seem to matter a lot.
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  That's ambiguous about whether demand for all AR-15s is down Thanks to Robert Francis O’Rourke AR-15 sales overall are having another record month.
- AdrianB1 7y ago
  It was explained that Colt is too expensive on a competitive AR-15 market.

rayiner 7y ago

Gun sales are up: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gun-sales-surge-15-driven-by-self-protection-pelosi-schumer-demand-for-limits https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gun-sa.... There has been a bit of a slump in 2017-2018 as the industry corrects for what was a huge boom during the Obama years, but gun sales are still up dramatically over the 21st century to date.

partialrecall 7y ago

It's about as significant as IBM dropping out of the PC market because Dell,etc are preferred by consumers. The platform is standardized and the vast majority of AR-15s the public own have no Colt parts in them. Colt are a big name, but from the perspective of the home consumer they are no longer significant.

egdod 7y ago

Demand for AR-15s is high. Demand for Colt AR-15s is not. Colt makes a perfectly ok rifle, but the premium they charge is not justified, and buyers know it.