Rocker Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 With future of Ripmax in dout .Anyone know what will happen to Futaba in the UK .Thinking of upgrading my 10 J to a Futaba 14 (After my wife sat on my 10 J and breaking all the the switches clean off ).If the future for Futaba in UK is in dout with the dismiss of Ripmax .Might be a better bet changing over to Spektrum ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Whether or not Ripmax are the distributors, someone will pickup Futaba in the UK - they still have many devoted fans here (though in terms of sales and market share they have declined in the last 10 years). For that reason I wouldn’t be worried about a lack of support if you were to buy a new set, though personally there are many many brands I’d pick over Futaba given how they have fallen behind in terms of features, plus I’ve never really got on with their programming. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outrunner Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 22 minutes ago, Rocker said: With future of Ripmax in dout .Anyone know what will happen to Futaba in the UK .Thinking of upgrading my 10 J to a Futaba 14 (After my wife sat on my 10 J and breaking all the the switches clean off ).If the future for Futaba in UK is in dout with the dismiss of Ripmax .Might be a better bet changing over to Spektrum ??? I can't imagine how your wife came to sit on your transmitter 😆 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan mcatamney Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 (edited) I've been with Futaba since 1986 and never had a reason to change. You know the old saying, if it's not broke don't fix it. My current transmitter a Futaba 9c Super 2.4 Fasst was bought in the year 2000 and still like brand new. I honestly hope that Futaba will be around for generations to come. Edited August 11, 2023 by aidan mcatamney 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Surely someone will puck up the Futaba mantle and continue to provide support for the many Futaba users in this country.. Personally, having been a long term Futaba user, with a succession of transmitters and many receivers and servos, when the switch to 2.4Ghz came, I found the notion of re-equipping with very expensive Futaba FASST kit to be not very palatable, so swapped to Spektrum and to a FRSKY module in my FF9. That's still going strong, with all of my gliders on there, but I'm keen to replace it with the Radiomaster 16S that I bought a good while ago, once I can get my head around OpenTx. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted August 11, 2023 Author Share Posted August 11, 2023 51 minutes ago, Outrunner said: I can't imagine how your wife came to sit on your transmitter 😆 My fault I left it on the settee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 The Ripmax website states: Ripmax Trading Update Recently there have been changes within the Ripmax company group and Amerang Limited - one of our highly respected group companies - has taken over the trade of Ripmax. As far as Ripmax customers and suppliers are concerned, it is very much 'business as usual' and all contacts and relationships remain exactly the same. It is our plan to ensure that our well-known range of radio control models and accessories continues to be available to modellers in the UK and across Europe. Many thanks for your continued support. Nick Moss, CEO. whilst the associated German Company Ripmax GmBH (also managed by Nick Moss) continues to distribute and support Futaba throughout Europe. Obviously things change over time but to my mind anything other than taking the above statement at its face value is pure speculation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 3 hours ago, Rocker said: With future of Ripmax in dout .Anyone know what will happen to Futaba in the UK .Thinking of upgrading my 10 J to a Futaba 14 (After my wife sat on my 10 J and breaking all the the switches clean off ).If the future for Futaba in UK is in dout with the dismiss of Ripmax .Might be a better bet changing over to Spektrum ??? You didn't disrespect her car did you ? 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 55 minutes ago, kevin b said: You didn't disrespect her car did you ? 🤣 I’m wondering if anybody asked if the lady got hurt. Spiky thing to sit on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Walsh Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 3 minutes ago, Don Fry said: I’m wondering if anybody asked if the lady got hurt. Spiky thing to sit on. Think she's OK but the transmitter suffered a brown out. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 surely even if Ripmax did go the journey..... it would be in Futaba's best interests to have a UK dealership... ken anderson...ne..1....hope Ripmax survive dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Futaba (OS) is a very well established international company. I should think that unless agreements have been made to repay the debt that they will look elsewhere to do business. There are plenty of well established companies that would be happy to take on the franchise rather than the people who just pooped on them. I know I would. Can someone explain to me why; Traplet go down and don't supply goods to purchasers and they are considered to be lower than a snakes belly. Ripmax go down and don't pay their suppliers so that seems to be acceptable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 10 hours ago, Outrunner said: I can't imagine how your wife came to sit on your transmitter 😆 Perhaps it has haptic feedback… 😉 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Bowers Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 1 minute ago, MattyB said: Perhaps it has haptic feedback… 😉 Naughty 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernie Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 Mine sat on my fokker once What a mess, thankfully the fokker was OK ERNIE 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Cardin Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 I think FUTABA must be having very hard times...... In a few years they have lost their most important distributors worlwide: First it was Robbe in Germany, then Hobbico in USA.... and now Ripmax in UK. Aside this, also other medium distributors fell like Modelimport in Spain, all of them leaving large debts to the company. If you add what "leccyflyer" explains to the picture (Radiomaster 16S is, by far, the most popular programmable radio here in Spain!), really I see a quite dark future for FUTABA not only in UK........ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 The hobby radio control products form a comparatively small part of the Futaba Corporation's portfolio. They are listed on the Tokyo Stock Market with net assets as of 31 March 2023 of 98,118 million yen (about £533million). If the debt owed by Ripmax crystallises it is little more than a rounding error on their books. They have recently announced a reconstruction plan: business_reconstruction_plan_en_2024.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, John Lee said: The hobby radio control products form a comparatively small part of the Futaba Corporation's portfolio. They are listed on the Tokyo Stock Market with net assets as of 31 March 2023 of 98,118 million yen (about £533million). If the debt owed by Ripmax crystallises it is little more than a rounding error on their books. They have recently announced a reconstruction plan: business_reconstruction_plan_en_2024.pdf 7.52 MB · 13 downloads All true, but the key point is this… if they perceive themselves to be well behind in the hobby RC market with no obvious way to catch up, why continue to invest? It’s clear from surveys here and elsewhere that their influence and sales are declining; sure they still have loyal followers, but they are ageing and often state their elderly TXs are so good and reliable they will use them forever. Customer loyalty is good, but only if t means they are continuing to buy kit! More worrying is that they have made little impact on the BNF market or multirotors, whilst many traduotional Futaba heli and fixed wing LOS users have moved to the likes of Jeti and Frsky. Precious few move in the other direction, mainly because Futaba sets lack features (e.g affordable telemetry and integration with other third party kit), and offer less value than challenger brands. It’s sad, but even if Futaba can be turned round as a company, I don’t expect them to be in hobby RC a decade from now - their competition has done them too much damage, and they aren’t quick enough to react to new products during ram the likes of Frsky, Spektrum and Jeti. Edited August 12, 2023 by MattyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Cardin Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, John Lee said: The hobby radio control products form a comparatively small part of the Futaba Corporation's portfolio. They are listed on the Tokyo Stock Market with net assets as of 31 March 2023 of 98,118 million yen (about £533million). If the debt owed by Ripmax crystallises it is little more than a rounding error on their books. They have recently announced a reconstruction plan: business_reconstruction_plan_en_2024.pdf 7.52 MB · 15 downloads That is totally true, but as it happens with all giant companies..... if the hobby section only have loses and no gains, it is just a matter of time Futaba owners and directors will shoot it close! And regarding the reconstruction plan, it already shows quite a critical situation: Electronic Systems sales in 2022 were just half that of planned figure... By the way, did anybody else noticed they intend developing an ID device for radio controlled flying models? Finally it seems it will be mandatory for most of us in the future, then! In any case, I do not see they clearly recognize their own faults on radio control systems development during last years and if you do not see your errors, I think it is just impossible to solve them..... Edited August 13, 2023 by Jesus Cardin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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