Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Fast-forward 30 years and today’s anglers are requesting almost the exact same attributes in an ideal fish-finder. That led to Humminbird’s development of the LCR Series, the first LCD fish-finder, which accounted for the company more than quadrupling its revenue within three years,” says Kolodzinski. This ran contrary to their expectations, but they decided to trust the end-user. “Years ago, then-Humminbird CEO Jim Balkcom discovered that fishermen didn’t necessarily want more bells and whistles they wanted easier-to-use units that could be read in bright sunlight. Not at Humminbird, who have embraced end-user feedback for decades. But in the world of marine electronics, customer-driven product design is still a fairly recent development. To those in retail, listening to customers seems like common sense. This also gave HELIX users the ability to tap the power of Minn Kota i-Pilot Link and 360 Imaging,” says Kolodzinski. “Based on the importance of sharing waypoints and data between console and bow units, the decision to add an ethernet port to HELIX 9 and 10 models was a no-brainer. “Anglers absolutely loved HELIX 5 and 7, but immediately starting asking for the same display brightness, ease of use and features in larger screen sizes,” says Kolodzinski.Īnglers also asked for the ability to network multiple units and utilize technologies like Minn Kota ® i-Pilot ® Link™ and Humminbird 360 Imaging™, which operate via ethernet connection.
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Outdoors retail expert Tom Keenan is also a winning walleye pro who relies on HELIX 10 units to climb leaderboards.įollowing the launch of HELIX 7, many anglers saw the handwriting on the wall for even larger HELIX units. “I know when I rig a HELIX on someone’s boat, they’ll be able to read the unit and see structure and fish.” There’s big angler demand,” says Wausau, Wisconsin, Gander Mountain store manager, Tom Keenan. And they continue to outsell other fishfinders by a considerable margin.
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I can teach someone in the store how to use one in a matter of minutes. “I’ve been selling marine electronics for 24 years, and the Humminbird HELIX is by far the most colorful, brightest and easiest to read unit I’ve ever seen. And dealers reported strong sales from day one, many selling units as fast as they could stock shelves. Voters championed the HELIX 7 for its ultra-bright screen, pro-level features, and real-world pricing. The latter culminated in Humminbird’s fifth consecutive “Best of Show – Electronics” win at ICAST 2015. ‘Keep it simple and make it easy to read.’”īased on this feedback, Humminbird launched HELIX 5 in November 2014, adding HELIX 7 a few months later in 2015. This was the very same feedback that we got decades ago when Humminbird launched the first color fishfinder and it remains true today.
“The ease of operation and a brighter, easier-to-read screen are the hallmark of the HELIX platform. Racine, WI (July 8, 2016): Although strategic planning, R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and sales are all responsible for the HELIX success story, Humminbird ® brand manager Jeff Kolodzinski also credits end-users for leading the company down the right path. Profiles in Brightness: Humminbird ® HELIX™ 9 & 10