Interesting...I dont know, you would think they could stuff some slightly modified Eurotech or 70 or even F5 guts in a waterproof shell and call it a day? not knowing the numbers, I have to believe the atPro has been a hot seller and a real winner for the Competition. Heck, its priced right, been on several TV shows, has a hell of a following, finds everything in its path for the most part... etc...with just a few minor changes to that type of platform, getting rid of the weak spots like the small screen, which is pretty much unusable, etc..
Thats the hole in the Fisher line up from where I'm sitting, waterproof to 25' and priced right.. Fisher cannot be concerned about marketing to existing users, they gotta be able to see where the sport is going, and what the demographics of their FUTURE buyers will look like...Existing user feedback is important, and of course whatever they come out with will get a good work out by us, but in all seriousness, most of the noobs in the future will be inland/freshwater/beach jewelry and clad hunters, so thats the market...gotta be waterproof whatever it is just for marketings sake to beat the Pro. Regarding the law of diminishing returns, most future younger noobs will not be able to afford anything near the 1000 dollar mark, but a 6-7 hundred dollar unit should be able to pay itself off quickly. Then of course dependability and strength...if Fisher sells 10 units but gets 5 of them back due to a mfg failure, all the profit on the 10 is a wash...so whatever it is has got to be structurally sound so those calls dont come in....A waterproof 70 with a hydrodynamically shaped coil would be my dream machine.
Mud