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How long will milwaukee stay with its current tool lineup?


Bmill25

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i may not have worded the title correctly so I'll try to explain my meaning. I noticed that within the last few years quite a few tool companies have revamped their cordless tool lineup. New tools, new batteries, new look. How long has milwaukee been with its current M12/M18 lineup and how long will they be using this line? I'm sure no one here knows for sure, but I'm just curious cause I just bought quite a few milwaukee tools in the past 4 months and love them. Right now they have nearly 100 tools in the 12/18v platforms and I hope they make 1000 before they introduce something else. I'm curious what causes companies to end one line to start another.

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I think m12 and m18 are staying for a while dewalt came out with the new 20volt line to replace there 18 volt line but really it puts out the same charge as the m18 battery milwaukee is pushing in the right way and I don't think they are going to do that you look at ryobi alot of people like them cause old tools are universal with NEW batteries and vise versa I think millwaukee would have already caged the battery platform if they were going to do it like dewalt did when brushless tech came out I hope hate to promise you but I think your safe millwaukee I think they want to keep one battery can run lots of tools lol

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I don't see any of the big tool companies changing battery connection formats for awhile. Milwaukee is aggressive in updating their tools so you won't have the top tool for 10 year with them, but the tool industry especially with cordless is just innovating faster now. If your worried about having a platform that is dead I wouldn't worry about it the last company that had to change things was Dewalt with the 18v xrp stem packs to the 20v max slide pack style. I will say I wouldn't invest in the Milwaukee M28 lineup as that seems like its pretty much at the end of its lifecycle they are supporting it but not really planning on anybig new tools.

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What DR99 said! Battery platforms are a big deal and the big guys learned from Milwaukees blunder then Dewalts. The V18 and the 18v pods were replaced by these new styles and the companies realize the financial impact it takes on the consumer and felt it with the last two changes. I seriously doubt there will be any changes to the M18 battery platform . If anything, look at Bosch and wireless charging. They didn't change the battery slide style, then new the packs were good, they just made them better. Those wireless batteries are the bees knees and fit in all of the 18v Li line tools.

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their M18 fuel line with the 4.0, 5.0 and possible 9.0 give less room for a need of the m28 line...... their brushless design seems capable of the most industrial needs with little adaptation.

their 4 pole designed motors are still pumping out adequate performance and run times.....I can't see them dropping a successful line any time soon.....the marketing alone would cost a fortune......

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I agree with everyone that the current platforms are here to stay. Most of the changes that happened over the last few years were to correct problems.

Milwaukee screwed up the V Series and had to move to a different connector to correct it. I'm thinking the V series was a 3 pin and they needed 4.

Dewalt had to move to the slide pack because the space taken up by the stem on the old packs didn't leave any space to install the onboard electronics like overload protection and communication with the battery and charger that allowed them to keep up with the competition.

When manufacturers switch to a platform that isn't backwards compatible it pisses everyone of royally. Milwaukee's switch from the V series to the M series back around 2009-10 damn near killed them and there are still people bitter about it to this day. I think all the current platforms are here to stay for the foreseeable future. They've all worked out the bugs and changing is the last thing any of them want to do

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I think Ryobi's One+ 18v is the perfect example how you can grow and evolve a tool platform while maintaining backwards compatibility. Ryobi's tech basis for their system isn't even close to as advanced as Milwaukee's Red Lithium and it's still choochin' along and growing the lineup's versatility while bringing new life to older tools.

I think the m18 will be here for a decade or more. If they can give you a 1-9/16" SDS-Max Rotary Hammer Drill with a 9.0Ah battery in 2016 it's really just about making the batteries more compact in the future allowing them to push the power draw of the tools and still increasing capacity regularly to push cordless tools to greater capability. If we have say 18Ah batteries in half a decade the tools will follow that can take advantage of them. As long as they can keep pushing the capacity and decreasing the size and weight accordingly M18 will keep going. Look at the jumps from the 3.0->4.0->5.0->6.0 packs all the while maintaining the same size and improving heat characteristics. Those jumps really didn't take that long either when you think about it. Once runtime isn't so much of an issue the motors can be bulked up to take advantage and increase performance.

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