product market
advantages for consumers too ; they can build a relationship with business owners , and they can get product serviced easily if needed .
There are about 1.4 million registered landscape companies . And we know that 72 percent have less than 20 employees . These are small business owners with different needs , in locations all over the U . S ., and we want to provide them a variety of locations to get Echo products so they can serve their customers . Some of these retailers have online sales , but Echo does not sell direct to consumers .
OPEB : Okay , 21 new products leading into 2024 . And you talked about brand expansion . So what can we expect in the near future ? Thomsen : We ’ ll continue to look at push mowers more , and equipment beyond just handheld . Does this extend into riding equipment ? Not sure yet . We want to be the best provider of handheld power equipment in the industry . That ’ s our immediate goal . We measure by marketshare , and we have grown three to four points in the last five years . That ’ s handheld-equipment marketshare . If you extrapolated by just commercial users , it would be even larger . We can assess that by price points .
This Powder Duster Fogger , branded Kyoritsu , is from the 1940s . Yamabiko Corp , Echo ’ s parent company today , started with aircraft engineers who made ag products like this one .
And our history is an important part of the story . Echo has been providing outdoor power equipment for more than 50 years , longer than any handheld supplier . We started in 1972 in the U . S . market with significant contributions , like the first backpack blower ( 1972 ), first handheld blower ( 1975 ).
16 OPE Business October 2023 www . OPEBusiness . com