What is the wave of future surfboard? This is a question that has been asked by surfboarding aficionados since the 1960’s. According to the Firewire Surfboards case study, many surfers prefer their “gear” old school or custom-shaped to order. At the San Diego based, Firewire Surfboards, developer and CEO, Mark Price, has challenged those very ideals with the creation of his far lighter, stronger, and more flexible foam to make their boards. The issue lies with having the surfing community accepts the fact that change must happen to launch the sport to the next level.
Firewire Surfboards was launched in 2005 by Mark Price to create a surfboard that according to him, “Will create wave-riding magic”. Mark Price, a former surfing pro, understands that there is competition that can hinder the success of his business. The biggest hurdle for Firewire is the past. Many surfers prefer to have their equipment custom-shaped to order. To try to tap into this market, Firewire is introducing its first custom board line and so that their product can reach the “hard-core” surfers. Firewire Boards is prepared to sell the new line for a bit more than $600.00. On the other hand, Channel Islands (competitor), sell’s their off-the-rack boards for $ 650.00. In the end, many of the local shops are trying to buy boards from Firewire and put their mane on the product. Firewire is also looking to tap into the developing of boards for beginners that can help them compete with companies like Surftech.
Firewire Surfboards has a team of very creative entrepreneurs that had a vision to create the best surfboard available. However, with the creation of their featherweight boards the company should have anticipated both a drawback from veteran surfers along with the excitement of other venders wanting to put their company name on the design. Many surfers use equipment that has been made for their body or custom boards. In retrospect, Firewire Boards will be launching a line that can help them satisfy the demand of made-to-order boards. With the anticipation of the new boards, companies like Lost Surfboards liked the product enough to want to buy 250 units. The company was denied the order because Firewire wanted to establish its own name and identity to the surfing community.
The surfboard company has many special attributes that can help them separate from the competition. For example, they use materials that make their product far lighter, stronger, and more flexible than the polyurethane foam-based competition. This attracts super-star surfers like teen sensation, Dusty Payne, who won the Kustom Air Strike, used a Firewire board. Also, by using environmentally friendly lamination, the company can stand ground because other company use chemically toxic foam blanks.
Given the company’s recent shift in strategy, I believe the biggest challenges will be to be able to keep up with the demand. Firewire has a large warehouse that is located in San Diego however, they make most of their in a factory in Thailand. Mark Price mentions that devolving the step-by-step board-making process can take moths. In the end, their surfboard challenges all ideals of the past and is helping the sport reach new horizons.
In conclusion, Firewall has paved the way for new, more innovative surfboards. They have opened up the market and are on the verge of help to take the sport of surfing to a new level. This will not come without a challenge but if Mark and his team are able to stay focused and continue to perform market research, they should be a success in the surfing community. It looks like if beginners like me go and try to catch some waves, it’s quite possible I will be using a Firewall surfboard.