I suppose the title may be a little misleading as S&B has never been "out" of the game; however, with price increases, low warranty periods and their loss of prominence in certain competitive circles here in the US, it would appear the dominant German Optics manufacturer that used to rule the upper echelon of the rifle scope world was losing its title. Sometimes companies who sit on the top for so long get a little lazy and tend to rest on their laurels, only to find they've lost market share to other smaller competitors. 2017 seems to have changed how Schmidt is managing the US market and looks to be back in the fight. They have actually dropped their prices, improved their US warranty and have even released a new reticle (LRR-Mil) "aimed" at the competition crowd. My hope now is that we see a new PMIII line coming in 2018??? that will eliminate the annoying illumination tumor and put it in line with the parallax, not just for left handed shooters but for better ergonomics and opening up some tube real estate for one piece mounts. The price, the reticle and the illumination were my only gripes and Schmidt has addressed 2 out of 3 so far. Kudos to S&B for addressing the US market like they have this year and hopefully it means a lot more to come in the future. I know that many may feel a need to defend Schmidt and point out that they have been extremely innovative with the scopes they've introduced over the past few years, and to that point I would agree, especially with their ultra short line which has little to no competition, but like I said earlier, my frustration has been with price, .2 mil hash reticle options and illumination and tackling two out of three this year is very encouraging.
When you say they brought in help for the US market can you elaborate a little more, did they hire a new team/staff specifically to address regaining some market share here in the US?
