Most Popular Power Tool Brand

[Farmall450]

Based on website visitors, it would appear to be DeWalt.

http://toolaudits.com/popularity-contest

DeWalt – 223,129*

Milwaukee – 129,850

Ridgid – 122,890

Bosch – 93,547

Festool (USA) – 70,363

Makita – 36,491



*March 2015 Unique Visitors

 

[brianh]

Next I would like to see advertising budgets of each, big yellow certainly is not top of the heap for actual quality.

 

[Brownsfan]

I see a mostly Makita on the work sites I go to. I own Makita and Craftsman. I'm also surprised Festool has more visits than Makita.

 

[Mister_A]

I did a Google Trends chart real quick, and got this:

http://www.google.com/trends/explor...ools,+ridgid+tools,+bosch+tools&cmpt=q&geo=US

People clearly start searching for information about tool brands before the holidays (yup), and Milwaukee seemed to start smoking DeWalt around 2009, which I think is when a whole bunch of new stuff rolled out.

Plus, some brands maybe attract people who are more likely to visit the company websites.

...and who is to say all that traffic isn't driven by people looking to find the customer service number so they can make warranty claims on their broken tools? "Popular" may not be the word.

 

[Farmall450]

I did a Google Trends chart real quick, and got this:

http://www.google.com/trends/explor...ools,+ridgid+tools,+bosch+tools&cmpt=q&geo=US

People clearly start searching for information about tool brands before the holidays (yup), and Milwaukee seemed to start smoking DeWalt around 2009, which I think is when a whole bunch of new stuff rolled out.

Plus, some brands maybe attract people who are more likely to visit the company websites.

...and who is to say all that traffic isn't driven by people looking to find the customer service number so they can make warranty claims on their broken tools? "Popular" may not be the word.

According to compete Milwaukee has never smoked DeWalt.
That being said both of your denarius are possible, however wouldn't they be proportionate to each brand? That negates their impact, IMO

 

[Mister_A]

According to compete Milwaukee has never smoked DeWalt.
That being said both of your denarius are possible, however wouldn't they be proportionate to each brand? That negates their impact, IMO

So, I used to have one foot in digital marketing in a previous job. My first thought would be that there could be a big difference in interest between which brands "internet people" like and which brands other people like. Milwaukee has a lot of new products that some people see as innovative, and that might attract people who like to research and have the latest thing, and the brand might be getting a lot of new exposure that causes people to do a lot of Google searching.

There's a lot of DeWalt products out there and people might hit up the company website because they know the brand and have a relationship with the company, but maybe they aren't searching as much because they feel they already know what they want to know about DeWalt. A lot of people seem very committed to yellow, and don't need any further convincing.

All I can guess about Makita is that maybe many of their tools end up on jobsites through employers and their suppliers, so those tools you see on the jobsite got there without anybody Googling them or going to their website. Maybe there's some technical problem counting the traffic on their website, but I'd expect a lot more search interest. Kind of weird.

 

[Dave455]

Be careful not to confuse 'most popular' with 'best'! The two are totally different!

The most popular wristwatch is probably a Casio or somesuch. The best, probably a Patek Phillipe!

Here in the U.K. it's election day! This will probably illustrate my point further!

 

[Spudland_Dave]

holidays (yup), and Milwaukee seemed to start smoking DeWalt around 2009, which I think is when a whole bunch of new stuff rolled out.

Plus, some brands maybe attract people who are more likely to visit the company websites.

...and who is to say all that traffic isn't driven by people looking to find the customer service number so they can make warranty claims on their broken tools? "Popular" may not be the word.

No doubt marketing plays into it, but the product itself does too... I was a "Milwaukee Man" in the late 90's before it was "cool", but to me at that time...Milwaukee made the best CORDED Tools...when it came to cordless I was Makita.... Milwaukee didn't have a real cordless solution until the M series (I was never impressed with the V series). After the M was release it was a chicken & the egg situation...it quickly proved popular which in turned created the need for anything cordless to use that platform.
The M Series was released in 2006-07 or so? We're going on 10 years of the M now...
I think what hurt DeWalt was they hung on to the old school NiCad solution for WAYYYY too long...Momentum is on Milwaukee's side right now.

 

[LordPsychon]

Website design probably plays a role too. Makita's website is a bit of a mess whereas Dewalt's is decent to navigate.

 

[crab]

The whole watch thing is kinda strange. Status symbol I guess. I understand a Rolex for instance is a finely made instrument but all it does is tell you what time it is, so does a Timex. The assumption is that everyone would want an expensive watch but not everyone can afford one I guess. I'll add this to the list of things I don't understand, long list. I like Seiko and Timex but Pulsar is a good watch also, they're made by Seiko I think. Now power tools is a different story, Metabo for me. They'll never be one of the most popular because of price but they are worth the price. Built like a watch.

 

[CobraChevelle]

In the automotive world around here is see mostly dewalt and snap on, very little IR and milwaukee.

For the job sites in construction, I see a lot of dewalt, makita and milwaukee. I don't sit there a count, but I would say there equal. The yellow sure does catch your eye more.

My personal stuff for cordless tools, I have milwaukee and some craftsman.. For corded tools, so far all makita but with some craftsman and delta. Not trying to be biased here. I did have dewalt cordless but gave it to my dad when I went m18

 

[Farmall450]

Website design probably plays a role too. Makita's website is a bit of a mess whereas Dewalt's is decent to navigate.

Possibly, to stem revisits from prior months. Otherwise, they're still recorded.

 

[chrisexv6]

Website design probably plays a role too. Makita's website is a bit of a mess whereas Dewalt's is decent to navigate.

Decent to navigate but still a PITA to figure out the differences between seemingly identical models.

I think thats one thing Milwaukee and Ridgid have going for them.....only few variations of the same basic tool. Brushed or brushless, hammer or non-hammer, etc.

DeWalt and Makita seem to have homeowner and contractor quality of brushed, brushless, etc. Its almost impossible to tell from the model numbers which are which (unless you know them by heart) and even worse is that a lot of them LOOK the same too.

 

[Mister_A]

Decent to navigate but still a PITA to figure out the differences between seemingly identical models.

Perversely, if people are buying them anyway, I'd expect this to generate more search traffic and site visits.

That confusion is certainly one thing that deterred me from getting into the Makita LXT line, though.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I think thats one thing Milwaukee and Ridgid have going for them.....only few variations of the same basic tool. Brushed or brushless, hammer or non-hammer, etc.

DeWalt and Makita seem to have homeowner and contractor quality of brushed, brushless, etc. Its almost impossible to tell from the model numbers which are which (unless you know them by heart) and even worse is that a lot of them LOOK the same too.

The pendulum seems to be swiging on that...Milwaukee will have 3 lines...Brushed, Brushless "Consumer", and Fuel

As for the Makita...I thought there were only 2 versions...the white tools being the "Entry Level" version and if you got the Teal Green one it was "Pro Level"

But agreed totally on the quality level confusion...Its why I stayed away from DeWalt from day 1.

 

[Super Sport]

Dewalt is carried at more stores than the other brands, which I think plays a big part. If it weren't for this site, Milwaukee wouldn't be on my radar since I never shop at HD.

 

[Farmall450]

Dewalt is carried at more stores than the other brands, which I think plays a big part. If it weren't for this site, Milwaukee wouldn't be on my radar since I never shop at HD.

This is true. I also think their iconic bright yellow factors into that.

 

[Scott r c]

DeWalt used to be the big brand at the supply houses, but I have seen Milwaukee getting more and more product behind the counters.

 

[rice rocket]

The pendulum seems to be swiging on that...Milwaukee will have 3 lines...Brushed, Brushless "Consumer", and Fuel

As for the Makita...I thought there were only 2 versions...the white tools being the "Entry Level" version and if you got the Teal Green one it was "Pro Level"

But you'll find that there are 4 drills, 4 saws, and 4 SDSs, all in teal, with a smathering of letters and numbers as "names".

 

[Mister_A]

Dewalt is carried at more stores than the other brands, which I think plays a big part. If it weren't for this site, Milwaukee wouldn't be on my radar since I never shop at HD.

As a humble DIY type, I wasn't really familiar with any of the professional-grade brands other than DeWalt, either, until I decided to shop for a cordless circular saw. This was the first thing I found, that set the bar pretty high for the state of the market:

http://www.coptool.com/milwaukee-m18-fuel-vs-makita-18vx2-cordless-circular-saw-showdown/

So suddenly, I realized Makita and Milwaukee seemed to be on top of the game, and in my research, I quickly formed impressions of the brands that made Milwaukee seem attractive to me. Then I came here, and I found all these friends where it seems like people recommend Milwaukee over Makita 5:1, and I figured I must be on to something good.

After looking at their comparable products, it seemed fairly obvious DeWalt is charging a premium for being yellow. (That's not to badmouth DeWalt products. The tools I researched looked solid and I'm sure they're reliable. They just aren't where Makita and Milwaukee seem to be.)

But you'll find that there are 4 drills, 4 saws, and 4 SDSs, all in teal, with a smathering of letters and numbers as "names".

Yep. In my situation above, I literally had 4 models to choose from and could not find information about the differences between them. Only figured it out from angry Amazon reviews complaining that saw X1 did not have a feature, and that it was actually only on saw X2. Then I'm looking at Y1 and Y2, and still can't see what differentiates the Y products from the X products. Kind of put me off.

Probably generated a ton of search traffic for Makita, though.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

DeWalt used to be the big brand at the supply houses, but I have seen Milwaukee getting more and more product behind the counters.

I have a friend who manages a supply house and they stopped stocking DeWalt recently in the store because the story was always the same...Customer walks in, sees the PRO level cordless set at $349.99 or whatever...and then asks/says the Supply house is taking advantage of them, ****** them, etc because they saw "The same drill set" on sale in the <Insert Big Box Store Brand of your choice here> flyer for $119.99

To a tool aficionados like us we know to look for exact model numbers, etc.. but to 95% of the people out there its all the same.

IMHO its a Game DeWalt played to get every consumer to buy into Yellow because the pros used it, but now the chickens are coming home to roost.

 

[Farmall450]

IMHO its a Game DeWalt played to get every consumer to buy into Yellow because the pros used it, but now the chickens are coming home to roost.

I think every brand has various levels of tools.

 

[Monte]

I think every brand has various levels of tools.

companies like Festool, Mafell or Fein only offer one level of tools...

 

[PugetDude]

I did a Google Trends chart real quick, and got this:

Well, then there's this:
http://www.google.com/trends/explor...tools, ridgid tools, dewalt&geo=US&cmpt=q&tz=

 

[LordPsychon]

companies like Festool, Mafell or Fein only offer one level of tools...

Festool - yes but that's because they are the best of the best when it comes to woodworking tools.

Mafell - yes but that's because they spend years researching what their clients want before delivery.

Fein - generally yes but their multitool (oscillating tool) has several different levels albeit all clearly marked regarding usage.

 

[Monte]

Fein - generally yes but their multitool (oscillating tool) has several different levels albeit all clearly marked regarding usage.

ok that´s right they offer 3 different (corded) multitools (MultiTalent, MultiMaster, Supercut) but all of them are professional quality. The rest of their tools too.

 

[Raven GT]

The whole watch thing is kinda strange. Status symbol I guess. I understand a Rolex for instance is a finely made instrument but all it does is tell you what time it is, so does a Timex. The assumption is that everyone would want an expensive watch but not everyone can afford one I guess. I'll add this to the list of things I don't understand, long list. I like Seiko and Timex but Pulsar is a good watch also, they're made by Seiko I think. Now power tools is a different story, Metabo for me. They'll never be one of the most popular because of price but they are worth the price. Built like a watch.

They either sell different stuff overthere, or have multiple lines nowadays
It used to be THE best powertool you could get here, next to Makita and Hilti.
Al 3 were professional grade tools, and would last a lifetime.
Nowadays, not so much, Makita Pro and Hilti are still good, though i think the older Makita was better as those were truly indestructable.

Nowadays Metabo is apparently just a sticker brand they put on cheap DIY store **** to up the price

The newer Metabo stuff we had at work a few years back was rubbish.
We had the 12V pulse drills for a while, but most lasted between 4 to 6 weeks before needing repairs. Anglegrinders were worse.

Then got a few of the 18v Li-on drills, as compensation/ promo for al the trouble with 12V pulse **** and a few other tools.

Managed to let the smoke out of 2 BRAND NEW drills straight out of the case , within a box of 200 40mm drywall screws. Screwing 1/2 inch drywall onto soft pine studs.
And those are supposed to be tools for the professional user.

METABO: work, don't play !! (i'd like to, but your tools won't let me !!!!)


I personally prefer Bosch Professional, good quality,reasonably priced, grips not to big and not to heavy. Also replacment batteries don't cost a fortune.

I like Festool aswel, but seriously, 500 euro for a sander ??
Makita is hit/miss depending on pro or diy model, and nearly impossible to find the difference on their website.
De Walt is to darn Heavy to hold all day.
Milwaukee around here is a bit expensive aswell, same goes for Hilti.
Panasonic has some really good tools, but not a big assortment.
Hitachi also has some really nice stuff, love their small grinders and impacts.

 

[fleetcomm]

In my shop we have Dewalt and Milwaukee, I perfer Milwaukee drills and drivers over Dewalt.