It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say that TaylorMade-adidas Golf “rocketed” to the top of the metal woods market with the success of its new RocketBallz line because the company has been the metal woods leader for the past few years. But it is accurate to say that TMaG’s first quarter sales has raised the bar – and no doubt some eyebrows.
TaylorMade's RBZ driver
TMaG today reported record Q1 sales of $508 million, a 32 percent increase over Q1 of 2011. The Carlsbad, Calif., company credited the growth to increased sales in metal woods, putters, balls, footwear, apparel and golf bags. By contrast, TMaG rival Callaway Golf Company reported Q1 sales of $285 million.
Although it didn’t reveal specific sales numbers, TMaG said its metal woods sales – fueled by the RBZ and R11s lines – increased 28 percent versus the Q1 in 2011. As previously reported on GearEffectGolf.com, TaylorMade-branded metal woods set a record for U.S. monthly market dollar share at 52 percent according to Golf Datatech, which tracks sell-through on-course and off-course sell-through figures.
The second quarter generally is the biggest quarter for equipment companies in terms of sales, so TMaG’s Q1 sales figures set up an interesting Q2 for the company and its ability to sustain the momentum. Even more interesting is the question of how TMaG’s rivals can even stay close in the metal woods market.
Watch and listen to Tom Olsavsky, senior director of product creation for metal woods at TMaG, describe the RBZ line.
