Ex_Oakley_employee
Oakley Enthusiast
- 173
- 153
China is cheaper. Period. Cheaper production costs allow for a higher profit margin as long as the glasses are still selling at a premium price. Sounds to me from everything I've read over the last several months that that x-metal line was simply too expensive to maintain. If the margin is higher on glasses easier to produce and there is more demand for the frames which are easier to produce, why wouldn't a large corporation like Lux want to maximize their profits? The current Madman and Badman releases I think are an attempt to fuse something that bears a similarity to the X-metal line to appeal to that fanbase but combines with their existing infrastructure to produce frames as cost effectively as possible.
I've pointed out on another thread with regards to a dior and Oakley lookalike, the reason the Madman and Badman are a goer, is because Lux know all the materials and expertise needed to produce it pretty cheaply are already in China.
You are right to an extent. It's not too expensive to maintain the X-metal line, they just don't want to eat into profits to maintain it, so these choose not to maintain it. For the company, it's hard to argue I guess.
X-metal is loved by fans on sites like this, but most people who buy Frogskins, Holbrooks (the top sellers for Lux these days) really don't care about X-metal. It's a brutal fact, but a fact nevertheless.