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"Sales went downhill for MTH only or for both of them? Any idea what happened? "
Publicly made estimates for these companies are not necessarily reliable, since they are privately held. Reports from 8-10 years ago during Lionel's bankruptcy estimated Lionel's sales back then as about $60 million per year and MTH at about half that. What they are now is unknown, but most industry people I've talked to think that ratio still is relevant. MTH's peak sales were estimated at around $50 million by some. The drop in MTH sales have been attributed to the transition between PS1 and PS2, and the delays in introducing DCS (about 2002 as I recall) after Lionel introduced TMCC (about 1996). But this is mostly speculation. Certainly Lionel's continued emphasis on set sales and high end O gauge equipment, and MTH's ventures into HO, large scale and European prototypes suggest that each company was reacting to their strengths and weaknesses in sales.
Originally Posted by Landsteiner:
"Sales went downhill for MTH only or for both of them? Any idea what happened? "
Publicly made estimates for these companies are not necessarily reliable, since they are privately held. Reports from 8-10 years ago during Lionel's bankruptcy estimated Lionel's sales back then as about $60 million per year and MTH at about half that. What they are now is unknown, but most industry people I've talked to think that ratio still is relevant. MTH's peak sales were estimated at around $50 million by some. The drop in MTH sales have been attributed to the transition between PS1 and PS2, and the delays in introducing DCS (about 2002 as I recall) after Lionel introduced TMCC (about 1996). But this is mostly speculation. Certainly Lionel's continued emphasis on set sales and high end O gauge equipment, and MTH's ventures into HO, large scale and European prototypes suggest that each company was reacting to their strengths and weaknesses in sales.
When we did a survey of members back last year we had people post what they owned by manufacturer. after a month i added up all the locos and then looked at the proportions by brand. It weas something like Lionel had 45% or a bit more, MTH about 30%, everything else (ABB, Atlas, RMT, 3rd Rail, etc.) splitting the other 25%. It seemed about right to me.
From that i conclude that Lionel;s sales are probably a bit less than twice MTHs.
