USA – -(Ammoland.com)- The Smith & Wesson Shield will be replaced in 90 days. That is my prediction. No question about it. Too much stuff going on for it not to happen, here is why.
Imagine running a large firearm company. Not just any company, but running the storied Smith and Wesson company. Could it get any better than that?
You are surrounded by firearm Engineers, new designs, interacting with the gun community, privy to what law enforcement departments are buying, new product development, attending SHOT Show, Distributor Shows, Dealer Shows, going to the range, and all-around living the dream.
Sounds great, right? Maybe not so much.
We always forget that the large public companies have to answer to the shareholders. Shareholders are a fickle bunch and they pay for performance. Especially when it comes to having their money go south.
When big companies aren’t making product and shipping guns, they aren’t making money. When they sit on inventory, it costs them money. So they have to keep machines running and shipping product. Cover the overhead!
The firearms category has softened a little bit as Trump won and we are in the summer slowdown. Or the “new normal” as some are calling it.
What do guns shops do?
If you lay off workers, you lose opportunity for the future. Sure, you fire a couple of folks you don’t like, but you have to keep the folks that make the place run. But you need to keep them busy and productive.
Start promoting to get rid of inventory. Watch what Ruger does with their wholesale “Buy 5 and Get 1 Free” promo to the retailer. Come out with your own “Buy 6 and Get 1 Free AND get 7 magazines free”. Blow out your inventory.
But you know you can’t do it forever, because now your products are discounted so heavily, who will ever pay full price? Heck, a consumer can buy a Shield for $200 after rebate, that’s tough to beat! Will a consumer ever pay $329 or more? Never.
Smith and Wesson folks aren’t dumb. They just launched the 2.0 for other handguns. Even though there is nothing new in there, they called it “new” It’s a bunch of marketing gobbledegook, and it works because it’s “new” And “new” sells.
So what to do about the S&W Shield in inventory? Dump inventory and prep for a “Shield 2.0”. Every Shield we buy and sell to a consumer will be obsolete or old by Thanksgiving time. Online gun sellers are already kicking them out the door cheap.
They will likely roll out the new sku just in time for Christmas. This has played out at various companies over the last 30 years in the industry. We see it time and time again.
And for those of you that are sucking up these obsolete pistols, you are getting what you paid for. A cheap inexpensive no-frills gun that you’ll regret owning within 6 months. Come and get them.
We don’t make much selling them either, we’d almost prefer you buy online so we can charge you the transfer fee. We make more that way as we don’t make much on S&W.
But it’s easy money for us and we know the new one is coming. Now you do too.
Signed ~ Industry Insider….
I think this guy’s point is that as a dealer, he sold alot of the old Shields at a hot price.
Now S&W has made “upgrades” and the price went up significantly.
S&W “obsoleted” the old one by bringing out the new one.
He is talking as a retailer and we are responding like consumers.
He was actually correct in saying a new one had to be coming.
Some of the folks responding seem to be the jaded and grumpy ones.
My Chevy Biscayne still drives and my Colt SA goes bang.
Obsolete? Not to me, but to a Retailer….yep.
O heck Ya!
The Shield 2.0 is great! S&W added stippling, smoothed the trigger, double the price and….and……
What? No rail, ambi mag release, no fiber optic sights?
Ya people who bought the 1.0 version were real suckers! I mean how much does a hogue grip and polishing the action with Emory cloth cost $100…$200?
Signed a sucker who bought a 1.0 for $200… half the price of the current 2.0 model with nary an upgrade.
Shield 2.0 announced today to dealers.
I bought a Shield when it first came out and was still a unicorn. It has been drawn twice in defensive situations and thankfully did not have to be fired, but in the unfortunate event I would have had to pull the trigger I know it’s a quality pistol and would have done just fine. To call the Shield outdated is a bit over the top. I bought an M&P 2.0 FDE long slide and I do love the changes that the 2.0 line brings to the table. I also was able to compare a 2.0 Compacr with a Gen… Read more »
2.0 Shields are on the way, despite what S&W says. S&W’s model number for the 9mm w/ safety is 11806, and the .40 is 11812.
Don’t know how this cranky old fart ever managed to get his article published because he’s clearly a puttz!
I own and carry an “outdated” shield .40 (it does kick like a mule but it’s manageable) that I brought 5 years ago and have never had an issue with it!
If someone can point me to where I can get my hands on another “outdated” Shield 9mm for anywhere south of $250 I’d buy it today(maybe even two)! – even if S&W was going to release a “new” model tomorrow!
Moral of the story – S&W makes great guns, period
This guys last sentence makes himself sound like a old Jaded Dick. Yes; you get what you pay for, the shied is called a VALUE. It’s not like this is some heirloom piece… it’s an inexpensive, reliable, workhorse of a carry gun that you’ll likely never have a problem with…. and if you do… it’s backed-by one of the best warranties in the biz. At these blowout price points, why would anyone have the need to sell in 6 months… Just buy another. Oh and if you don’t like retail… than find a new income stream, because you’ve clearly run… Read more »
Shields are nice but they’re not very refined. You can see thru the thing and overall it just looks chintzy. I have one and it shoots really nice though but dust and debris getting into the gun could be an issue. Maybe the next revision won’t have cracks that you can see through. You get what you pay for I suppose. My HK P2000sk is like a work of art and worth the extra 350.00 I paid for it.
There may be a new version coming but I was told by someone in the industry was the reason for the extreme measures to get rid of them was because they had overproduced on a massive scale . They, like many others, were sure Hilary was going to win and she was going to be the second best gun salesperson in history .
They had ramped up production in anticipation.
When it didn’t happen gun sales fell off a cliff and they had wharehouses full.
I enjoy my new .45 shield as well as my M&P 9 .40 and 45 full size police trade used guns from BUD’s.