The Sport Optics Industry is big. Just the rifle scope market by itself was worth over five billion dollars in 2016. This is an astounding number. There are a half dozen major optics brands, with only a few of them really heavy hitters. One of these companies alone had more than a quarter billion dollars in revenue on its own!

When you look at the marketplace and current product offerings, you can’t help but wonder why these massive companies haven’t advanced the basic products that shooters use every day. Riflescope technology has not progressed on pace with the rest of the world. Think about it. Compare a scope that you use now, or could buy today, with a product from 75 years ago. Improvements have certainly been made over the years, but basic scope design and functionality has remained largely unchanged. Glass, reticles, adjustments; other than quality and a few user interface improvements to turrets and reticles, the products offer the same functionality and performance.

Let’s compare this to the automotive world. We can look at an early Model T or Rolls Royce and see that they had four tires, seats, windshields, and steering wheels. The cars today go faster and are safer and more comfortable, but they are fundamentally alike with the same process for use. Let’s contrast that against potentially disruptive technology in the automotive industry. First, think about self driving cars and how that would change how you use and experience car travel. Who needs a steering wheel? How about flying cars? The technology is there and will likely happen sooner than we think! Imagine a large drone with a seat–no more tires or highways. Those changes illustrate a fundamental paradigm shift in how the product is used and its impact on an entire industry.

Now let’s go back to riflescopes (and this can apply to all sport optics). Imagine disruptive technology in this field. The best examples we see are a complete departure from the traditional function of a direct-view optic. Companies like Tracking Point and ATN are combining cameras and displays to present a target image to the user. By replacing the conventional optical system with electronic imaging,, adding aiming reticles and ballistic functions is, in a sense, simpler to implement. It’s an exciting improvement e, but the market isn’t ready. The reliance on batteries and the image degradation poses significant barriers to customer acceptance. The price tag on the more sophisticated systems is pretty high and they offer a significant change to the traditional workflow of shot execution. Isn’t it also interesting that one of the biggest innovations in the firearms industry in years (Trackingpoint) came from a startup company rather than one of the big optics brands?
Innovative technology will fundamentally change the process a user takes to execute a long range shot. This industry is set for some major disruption! Displays, sensors, ballistics–it’s all part of the electro-optics innovations that will change how users interface with technology.
The challenge is delivering those products at reasonable cost.

Revic invests heavily on the R&D side of our business to develop products with solution workstreams in mind focusing solely on the user experience. Then we partner with the world’s premium Original Equipment Manufacturers who build products with exceptional quality. This strategic sourcing helps deliver game-changing technology to the end user at a lower cost. Finally, we test and inspect the products in our facility to guarantee quality. This is the formula of sustainability for keeping costs down and performance high for Revic products. Selling directly to the consumer keeps the price down by forgoing the benefits of traditional distribution.

Hence the revolution. Revic is changing the way we shoot.