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Tamara · January 26, 2002, 08:40 AM

Manufacturing costs between the P-99, USP, and Glock are all roughly equivalent. It ain't that expensive to squirt goop into a mold.

When the USP first debuted, it was priced less than $50 over the going rate for Glocks. With the exception of existing HK buffs, nobody bought them. Bump the price, and shazam! sales of this "new, high-end" pistol started to climb.

Unfortunately for Walther and Steyr, both late to the polymer gun game, this didn't leave much room for their products. Glock owns the market share around the $450-$500 mark, and HK has taken over the upscale $600+ portion of the plastic gun biz. They both (especially Glock) have market recognition outside the handgun hobbyist segment. Everyone who's ever watched the news, listened to rap music or sat in a movie theater knows what a Glock is, and every kid who's played Rainbow Six knows what an HK USP is. How many first-time handgun buyers have heard of a P-99 or an M40? The gun market over the last few years is littered with challengers to the 800-lb Austrian gorilla (think Sigma and FN FortyNine, here) that failed not necessarily because their product was inferior, but because they were priced to compete with the most formidable marketing juggernaut the handgun world has seen since Dirty Harry first brandished a Model 29.

Any bets that, in addition to lowering its' P-99 prices, Walther paid big money to make sure Bond, James Bond started toting a P-99?

Want to know why the introductory price of the HS2000 nee Springfield XD was so amazingly low?

Sometimes you have to try to buy market share at the expense of short term profits. Just ask that Austrian plastics mogul who sold his unknown pistols almost at a loss to fill police holsters and range rental counters across America, and now turns a tidy per-gun profit as a result.

January 26, 2002, 08:40 AM	#8
Tamara Moderator Emeritus Join Date: March 11, 2000 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 16,002	Here's a hint: Manufacturing costs between the P-99, USP, and Glock are all roughly equivalent. It ain't that expensive to squirt goop into a mold. When the USP first debuted, it was priced less than $50 over the going rate for Glocks. With the exception of existing HK buffs, nobody bought them. Bump the price, and shazam! sales of this "new, high-end" pistol started to climb. Unfortunately for Walther and Steyr, both late to the polymer gun game, this didn't leave much room for their products. Glock owns the market share around the $450-$500 mark, and HK has taken over the upscale $600+ portion of the plastic gun biz. They both (especially Glock) have market recognition outside the handgun hobbyist segment. Everyone who's ever watched the news, listened to rap music or sat in a movie theater knows what a Glock is, and every kid who's played Rainbow Six knows what an HK USP is. How many first-time handgun buyers have heard of a P-99 or an M40? The gun market over the last few years is littered with challengers to the 800-lb Austrian gorilla (think Sigma and FN FortyNine, here) that failed not necessarily because their product was inferior, but because they were priced to compete with the most formidable marketing juggernaut the handgun world has seen since Dirty Harry first brandished a Model 29. Any bets that, in addition to lowering its' P-99 prices, Walther paid big money to make sure Bond, James Bond started toting a P-99? Want to know why the introductory price of the HS2000 nee Springfield XD was so amazingly low? Sometimes you have to try to buy market share at the expense of short term profits. Just ask that Austrian plastics mogul who sold his unknown pistols almost at a loss to fill police holsters and range rental counters across America, and now turns a tidy per-gun profit as a result. __________________ MOLON LABE! 2% Unobtainium, 98% Hypetanium. The Arms Room: An Online Museum.