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[COBill]

I went to a Festool event today and was told a few things by the company reps there:

• TBX batteries will be released in the US in mid-June at the same price point as existing batteries of the same capacity. The current unavailability of batteries isn't because of this, it's fallout from the new software disaster that has kept them and Festool Europe from shipping product to retailers for the last few months.

• From now on, tools will only be available in the "Basic" configuration - no more "Plus" kits with batteries and a charger, though the Systainer trays will still have cutouts for them. Instead, they will offer battery "starter kits" of a battery or batteries and charger (like other tool vendors) if you don't want to get a whole Energy Set. They are purposefully keeping battery and charger prices significantly lower than other tool companies like DᴇWALT and Milwaukee.

• The HKC 55 KEB will be coming to the US in mid to late Fall, 2026.

• The reason they laid off Sedge and other marketing folks is they want to downplay the homeowner/hobbyist market and target the pro carpentry/contractor/installer market. Think custom kitchens and custom homes, not D.R Horton/Lennar/Pulte. They pivoted to home owners/hobbyists during COVID but want to return to more a pro craftsman focus.

• The new undercutting of prices at the US Systainer Store is deliberate, Festool wants to be the source for Systainers in the US unless you need the custom colors or configurations the Systainer Store offers.

If you have other questions I can try to answer them if I didn't cover it above.

 

[luvmytoolz]

That's some really interesting points there!

The Sedge one is somewhat surprising to me.

I do really like the idea of "Basic" only kits if the battery sets are kept too a low cost.

 

[grmaxx]

Thank you for this info!

 

[SoonerFan]

Thanks for sharing. I want an HKC but plan to wait for the new version and the new batteries.

Like @luvmytoolz, I was surprised Sedge was let go. I do expect Sedge to still be all over social media on his own since he has built a following.

 

[peter halle]

Thanks for sharing. I want an HKC but plan to wait for the new version and the new batteries.

Like @luvmytoolz, I was surprised Sedge was let go. I do expect Sedge to still be all over social media on his own since he has built a following.

He's still around. Working with Rubio Monocoat now.

Peter

 

[rmhinden]

He's still around. Working with Rubio Monocoat now.

Peter

I actually like his current youtube videos better than when he was sponsored by Festool.

Bob

 

[COBill]

I actually like his current youtube videos better than when he was sponsored by Festool.

Bob

His caffeine level seems a bit more normal.

 

[ReneS]

His caffeine level seems a bit more normal.

Hilarious!!

And I like him a lot.

 

[NewWoodWorkerVA]

• The new undercutting of prices at the US Systainer Store is deliberate, Festool wants to be the source for Systainers in the US unless you need the custom colors or configurations the Systainer Store offers.

I thought Tanos and Festool had the same parent company (Tool Technic) and Systainer Store is owned by them. They have the same address in Indiana.

But yeah I just checked and Festool-branded Systainers look to be cheaper than Systainer store. Strange.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I just checked and Festool-branded Systainers look to be cheaper than Systainer store.

That was actually true when I bought a few about a year ago to replace some old "Classic" Systainers. The Festool branded ones got the nod, which was fine given I was transfering Festool inserts and tools into them

 

[Cheese]

I went to a Festool event today and was told a few things by the company reps there:

• From now on, tools will only be available in the "Basic" configuration - no more "Plus" kits with batteries and a charger, though the Systainer trays will still have cutouts for them. Instead, they will offer battery "starter kits" of a battery or batteries and charger (like other tool vendors) if you don't want to get a whole Energy Set. They are purposefully keeping battery and charger prices significantly lower than other tool companies like DᴇWALT and Milwaukee.

• The reason they laid off Sedge and other marketing folks is they want to downplay the homeowner/hobbyist market and target the pro carpentry/contractor/installer market. Think custom kitchens and custom homes, not D.R Horton/Lennar/Pulte. They pivoted to home owners/hobbyists during COVID but want to return to more a pro craftsman focus.

• The new undercutting of prices at the US Systainer Store is deliberate, Festool wants to be the source for Systainers in the US unless you need the custom colors or configurations the Systainer Store offers.

It's always nice to hear the latest scuttlebutt and I understand that you're just relaying what you were told by the factory reps but certain things those reps are saying don't seem to ring true.

IF Festool wants to focus more on the contractor business then:
Why are they pushing the "starter kits"? The typical DIYer would want the "starter kit" as all they need is a couple of batteries and a charger to operate the tools they have, one at a time. The contractor on the other hand, would purchase a half-dozen tools and a half-dozen Energy Sets because most of their tools will probably be used at the same time.

IF Festool wants to focus more on the contractor business then:
Why does Festool want to assume control of the Systainer Store which is already owned by their sister company Tanos? What would being the source for Systainers add to their professional contractor tool market? Tanos has been designing & manufacturing Systainers since 1993. Festool has simply been an end-user of the product.

 

[onocoffee]

I think there’s some sense to the combo kits. They came out just after the big axe fell at Festool. That kit had most likely been in the works prior to that. And we’ve seen nothing since - not even clarity on when the DFC is actually being released other than “summer”

And I had the opportunity to see the DFC recently. I’m now very tempted to get it.

 

[ChuckS]

I'm with you @Cheese.

Anyone who has ever worked for a big business knows the front-line staff or even junior managment only knows so much and can misinterpret company directives or intentions as well. I've heard many things from different retail and industrial front-line representatives that turned out to be either false or half-true over the years.

Not saying what the OP related from the Festool reps might not be true, but I'm scratching my head why Festool needs to sacrifice one segment of its business to promote the other segment.

 

[Coen]

• From now on, tools will only be available in the "Basic" configuration - no more "Plus" kits with batteries and a charger, though the Systainer trays will still have cutouts for them. Instead, they will offer battery "starter kits" of a battery or batteries and charger (like other tool vendors) if you don't want to get a whole Energy Set. They are purposefully keeping battery and charger prices significantly lower than other tool companies like DᴇWALT and Milwaukee.

Good! That would cut down the number of SKU's significantly. It also means it's easier to compare prices for consumers because not every tiny battery update will result in a new SKU for the tool. It also means that even with smaller dealers with low volume of sales you won't get 3 year old batteries that sat in unconditioned warehouse if you buy a tool that sat on the shelf for longer.

But on the battery prices... if I compare the 8Ah packs I see Festool is about 65% more expensive than Bosch, 5% cheaper than Milwaukee and 35% more expensive than DeWalt... so euh? Is it maybe a US only thing?

 

[mino]

It's always nice to hear the latest scuttlebutt and I understand that you're just relaying what you were told by the factory reps but certain things those reps are saying don't seem to ring true.

IF Festool wants to focus more on the contractor business then:
Why are they pushing the "starter kits"? The typical DIYer would want the "starter kit" as all they need is a couple of batteries and a charger to operate the tools they have, one at a time. The contractor on the other hand, would purchase a half-dozen tools and a half-dozen Energy Sets because most of their tools will probably be used at the same time.

IF Festool wants to focus more on the contractor business then:
Why does Festool want to assume control of the Systainer Store which is already owned by their sister company Tanos? What would being the source for Systainers add to their professional contractor tool market? Tanos has been designing & manufacturing Systainers since 1993. Festool has simply been an end-user of the product.

Contractors will have custom setups .. they generally purchase basic + chargers and packs as needed. The Plus sets were a hobby market thing .. so it makes sense they be dropped while the charger discount is transferred into the starter packs. This covers both sides of the market while halving the SKU count .. thus saving $ on stocking.

TTS may be a holding of multiple companies, but they always operated as a single business. I worked a decade for IBM. My Employer was a Czech LTD company. Yet my manager was sitting in London employed by a UK LTD company.. You are looking at this too literally. In US Festool has the mass distribution network thus it makes sense for them to handle the majority of the volume for Systainers - it also makes sense to spread Festool brand name as much as possible that way. That Systainer Store was cheaper than Festool was more of an anomaly .. which they addressed in the best possible way: lowering Festool systainer prices.

 

[grmaxx]

• The reason they laid off Sedge and other marketing folks is they want to downplay the homeowner/hobbyist market and target the pro carpentry/contractor/installer market. Think custom kitchens and custom homes, not D.R Horton/Lennar/Pulte. They pivoted to home owners/hobbyists during COVID but want to return to more a pro craftsman focus.

Doesn’t really make sense to me. Festool has always been niche—high-end pros and serious DIYers. They were never targeting mass homeowners like DeWalt or Ryobi. Even their pricing and tools (like the CSC SYS 50) clearly point to precision work, not volume builders like D.R. Horton. Feels more like reinforcing their core market than a real pivot.

 

[mino]

I guess their assumption is that they have mostly saturated the high end hobbyist market while there is space for the professional market growth. The way I am reading, this is not a reduction of funding but a refocus. They moved the marketing money where they strategically want it .. targeting contractors you need a very different type of marketing team as compared to the individual woodworker or hobbyist. This seems more of a Festool HQ alignment push to me - the professionals market is their bread and butter in Europe, the US being so big on serious hobbyists /given the prevalence of standalone homes on big plots there/ was always an oddity and must confuse the HQ folks to no end. I am not sure I agree here .. but can see where they would be coming from.
Given most of the unique stuff Festool makes came from the professionals targeting, I am not sure this is a bad thing on the tool side but I am absolutely confident they are underestimating how important social media are for educating customers in general.

Festool marketing is an utter failure in marketing their product capabilities to anyone, not just the hobbyists. They just operate as if everyone knew what capabilities their products have .. while not even the owners of those products do so - as often evidenced on this forum. I would like to say Sedge did cover this gap, but he did not. His and team's coverage was too flamboyant to address the wider market while the HQ videos are too short, too dry, they are but mere hints. Never actual showcases.

IMO what they lack are semi-dry technical education videos. They should have a project where a team of influencers /content creators/ are hired to travel to various pro customers and have them explain how and why they use their tools. Spend a month creating a showcase of all their routers to set a baseline. Then spend a month working on the OF 500 series. The a month doing the OF 700 series .. on and on with a published schedule until in a few years they cover the whole range of their tools with *foundational* content that will be out there and others can reference and build upon. A National Geographic style series, not the spur-of-the-moment Sedge stuff FUSA did.
One needs like 4+ hours of dense content to showcase all the usecases and capabilities of the OF 1010 .. yet no one ever did it. Not Festool. Not influencers. Not hobbyists. Hell, random blokes like the UK Peters - Peter Millard and Peter Parfitt - did more educating the public on Festool over the last five years than the whole Festool marketing department did over the past 30+.

 

[luvmytoolz]

@mino A lot of really good points there Mino, when I first had the brand suggested to me ~45 years ago no-one I knew in carpentry or myself had ever heard of the brand. To some extent it's still a really well kept secret to a lot.

I don't understand why in the current climate they don't lean into more social media branding and awareness, showcase examples like you suggest would be a brilliant idea!

 

[onocoffee]

IMO what they lack are semi-dry technical education videos. They should have a project where a team of influencers /content creators/ are hired to travel to various pro customers and have them explain how and why they use their tools.

Generally speaking, I like the idea of education videos with greater depth. However, I also cringe at the notion of influencers/content creators doing what you note here - and I think of it as a coffee professional.

Meaning - I've been doing coffee now for 25 years. And the thought of having to endure a video shoot with any of the coffee influencers telling me about a product (that they just learned) and how I should be using it in my professional world seems... exactly that: an endurance.

That being said, I agree that Festool misses the boat on their marketing. Here in the USA they've had their Sedge replacement in position since at least the beginning of 2026 - and what has this bi-lingual creator produced? Has anyone seen anything?

When it came to Sedge and FTLive, I understand the misgivings people had about it. Sedge was exuberant. The Three Stooges thing would grate on me, from time to time. And the comparisons between FTLive Sedge and 2026 SedgeTool Sedge is notable, but I think that the difference between then and now is that he was super loyal to Festool and loved working there and for them - I think that was plainly obvious in the FTLives and the base of his enthusiasm.

I agree that Festool is missing opportunity with their social media - even on the FTUSA webpage where a section is dedicated to social media posts - but it's the typical corporate posts that FTUSA makes themselves. They could be capturing user posts but they dont.

 

[P_K]

Festool marketing is an utter failure in marketing their product capabilities to anyone, not just the hobbyists. They just operate as if everyone knew what capabilities their products have .. while not even the owners of those products do so - as often evidenced on this forum. I would like to say Sedge did cover this gap, but he did not. His and team's coverage was too flamboyant to address the wider market while the HQ videos are too short, too dry, they are but mere hints. Never actual showcases.

Great point. A member of this forum, Gary Katz, used to lead the Festool Road Show events around the US which were really informative but it's been more than a decade since they've done any. Even the tours in EU are few and far between these days.