Kevin Langeree leaving Naish...

[a99]

He targeting first Netherlands as demo kites there will be available for try. Near are Germany and France. I think they will easy sell till 500-1000 pieces this year. Of course lot will depend of price range. Still title of kite quite strange, more target for young 18-30 people than 30-60 year. Supermodel is a little bit stupid title, bettercan be titled as Model X . More serious people dont like such title, mostly like it girls of course, also lgbt side.

[nikolaygadzhev77]

The kite is for pre order in kitemana price crazy start from 1200 eur for small kite, bar price over 500 eur WTF.

[Exal]

The kite is for pre order in kitemana price crazy start from 1200 eur for small kite, bar price over 500 eur WTF.

12m for 1530 compared to a Core Nexus at 1599, Ozone Enduro 1595, Duotone Evo 1669, Cabrinha Moto 1649. Prices in euro. Ambitious that a 2 man company with a couple part time helpers (or something like that) charges that.

[UKSurf]

The kite is for pre order in kitemana price crazy start from 1200 eur for small kite, bar price over 500 eur WTF.

12m for 1530 compared to a Core Nexus at 1599, Ozone Enduro 1595, Duotone Evo 1669, Cabrinha Moto 1649. Prices in euro. Ambitious that a 2 man company with a couple part time helpers (or something like that) charges that.

I guess they assume it is a premium product and can charge the same amount as other premium brands. It is a leading designer and probably the No 1 or No 2 (depending on how you look at it) kitesurfer in the history of the sport behind the brand, so it does not seem unreasonable to charge that especially if the build quality is comparable to the premium brands. I would say that they will sell some kites just because it is a new brand with a bit of hype behind it, people want to be seen on the beach with something other people do not have.

[Daversj]

Thats the challenge of a small production runs with small kite brands. You aren’t going to get the best price per unit. So do you order 5 thousand kites at half price and don't sell half of by years end? Or just do a run of 500 and pay more per unit. Not an easy business to make work.
New kite prices are hard to swallow. I wonder what the ratio of kites sold at full price vs kites sold at close outs at end of season. I tend to buy them when on closeout to save $400.

[UKSurf]

Thats the challenge of a small production runs with small kite brands. You aren’t going to get the best price per unit. So do you order 5 thousand kites at half price and don't sell half of by years end? Or just do a run of 500 and pay more per unit. Not an easy business to make work.
New kite prices are hard to swallow. I wonder what the ratio of kites sold at full price vs kites sold at close outs at end of season. I tend to buy them when on closeout to save $400.

It would be interesting to know if anyone on the forum is planning on buying one of their kites? It seems to take ages for a brand to get noticed, from what I understand Core had been about from the early 2000s - it wasnt until about 2013 that I heard of the brand from a german kitesurfer who told me Core was the BMW of the kitesurfing world and had superior build quality and engineering to other brands and it only seems to have taken off globally recently. Before that I assume they were growing in the domestic market in Germany. From what I understand the last major brand to launch was Switch and they were basically giving away kites at cost when they first launched (all their customers were pretty much "team riders") and had an innovative distribution method, a world class rider (Marc Jacobs) and some serious money behind them. Even giving away kites at cost I think they found it an uphill struggle at first with only a handful of kite riders world wide.

[Toby]

no, Core didn't start in 2000.
That was CARVED. Custom high end boards.

Not sure now, but they did then 2 years (?) CARVED kites.
Then started CORE kites and boards as a cheaper brand than CARVED.

Then only Core kites and boards as production line, while CARVED stayed premium kite boards.

Don't remember when exactly CORE started...maybe someone knows exactly?
All I know is that they started to advertise on kiteforum since end of 2009...

[UKSurf]

no, Core didn't start in 2000.
That was CARVED. Custom high end boards.

"Premium kites and boards made in Germany. And engineered with passion since 2001." that was from the Core Website. Anyhow it takes a while to get noticed and build a brand. Even if Core started in 2009 it took a while for them to become an established brand. I have never heard of Carved, that must be like the Mercedes of Kitesurfing

[Hugh2]

But, as this thread and the KOTA show, having Reedin kites prominently featured will lead to some people with the means being willing to try them. I doubt it is 5000 a year though, 500 seems more reasonable. There are several guys with them in Cape Town, most afternoons there are some at Kite Beach or Dolphin Beach, but they must be insiders. The distinctive coloring certainly makes them stand out. I believe the local Liquid Force shop, which is moving to the beach front at Bloubergstrand and already carries some premium brands like Appletree surfboards, is going to carry Reedin gear, but I don't know when.

[a99]

I think what Kevin must give (at costs price or even as gift) around 100-200 these kites for his close friends, insiders and etc, that in all main kite spots of Netherlands, CT, Germany, Italy, Usa and Australia will be at least 2-3 people riding them, than he can expect very speedy spread of his kite needs-sells, because people always want what they see live and in more than 1 quantity and in personal use (not as demo). If he will just do usual sales or occasionaly demos in just few spots than will take 5-10 year to get some more bigger sales for him. He simply must fluid all main spots with his kites. Of course it's very risky and costs, but it's only one way if he would like to get faster return.