Upcycling is one of the areas that has higher growth. People want to reduce waste, expand the lifetime of products, create something on their own, or simply appear cool and trendy. Telling someone you upgraded your flashlight showcases your skill, ambition, goal setting and technical prowess.
But that is just through the BLF lens. For the vast majority of consumers out there, a flashlight is nothing but a commodity. Something you pick up for cheap at a gas station or at Walmart. Or at Home Depot if you want “the real deal”. In those shops you will hardly find any products in this segment that can be easily upcycled by the average Joe. And why would they, it makes far more sense to sell them a new product. A new product sold will be reported as another sale. It is another order the wholesaler has to handle through them.
When I mention to friends that I build my own flashlights they give me weird looks. They appreciate flashlights when they need them, but they don’t understand why I would spend hours on BLF or browse parts to build my own. But these are the people who should be asking for the upgraded pills, etc.
I think a new generation, quality P60-type flashlight might work, but it would also take an enormous amount of customer education to explain the concept, the upgraded pills would have to be significantly cheaper than buying a new flashlight as well. And some customers simply want a different looking flashlight every other year…
I am on other forums with other hobbies or interests that gained a million people just because there was a pandemic and they had some time on their hands. I don’t think there are enough people who care that much about flashlights, who also want to mod them with an upgradeable pill, and then who’d be keen enough to actually order it as well. It is an interesting poll for a market research firm though, because I could be wrong.