Japan's Yamaha announced Wednesday that it will withdraw from the golf equipment business. The company explained that the decision was made after determining that mid-to-long-term growth would be difficult due to intensified competition with overseas brands and declining golf populations in key markets.
Yamaha, which started as an audio equipment company, entered the golf equipment market in 1982. Its flagship models are the INPRES and RMX series, which leveraged metal processing and acoustic analysis technologies developed through musical instrument manufacturing.
Yamaha's golf business revenue stood at 3.3 billion yen in the most recent fiscal year, accounting for just 0.7% of the company's total sales, with operating losses reported at 1 billion yen. Reuters reported that "recovery is difficult for Yamaha amid rising raw material prices" and that "Yamaha will end shipments to domestic retailers by the end of June."
Yamaha Golf has been marketing primarily to women and middle-aged golfers in Korea. The domestic golf equipment industry, which enjoyed a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been experiencing a downturn as the bubble burst following the endemic phase. Yamaha Golf is also reported to have suffered serious damage as sales plummeted over the past three years.