Businesses can be good and some things, but not others. Those strengths and weaknesses determine their level of success, or lack thereof.
Obviously, the company possesses the level of competency required to design, build, and market their lights to a good degree of success, certainly with the enthusiast crowd, and likely with the online consumer market at large as well.
Product marketing is not among its greater strengths, and the product management for the SP35, ranging from the confusingly recycled name (Why not the unused SP34? Perhaps a numerology thing, but the company’s model nomenclature have never had much logic, so who knows?), technical bugs that escaped the development phase and into production, and ultimately, performance shortcomings in the final “final” product exposed the weaknesses in more than one area.
One can only guess at why that is, without knowing the company structure and its development and production processes, but such issues are solvable. But, only if the company recognizes them and desires to improve. Personally, I’m with those who like the products, and the company, but with some frustration, and see some unfulfilled potential.
I’ve beat on this horse before, but the flashlight market hasn’t been hurt by products that are marketed in misleading ways, and don’t live up to their inflated marketing specs, even amongst enthusiasts who should know better. So what incentive is there to improve or do things any differently? Especially if it costs more and eats into profit?
Whereas the firmware issue with your SP36 could reflect a careless production worker using the wrong files when preparing drivers, the first non-functional ATR, and then underperforming ATR in the SP35 reach further up the chain.
Fortunately, I’ve never really had to deal with a complex customer service issue, technical or otherwise, and those of a minor nature have been handled well by the company, as long as the “right” party is contacted. But, knowing who that is can be confusing, and frustrating if that party is non-responsive.
One thing that piques my curiosity, and to me, really deserves more transparency, is the web of players involved with some of these companies, what their true relationships are, and how they operate. Some, like Convoy, are simple. It’s Simon’s business, his shop, and nobody else speaks for or represents him. Others, like Sofirn, have multiple sales outlets that operate independently, and multiple people speak for the company, with it not entirely being clear in what capacity.
But, back onto the topic at hand, the irony is that whatever resulted in the first SP35 production run, lacking a major feature, actually resulted in an arguably better product, at least in the right hands.