# What is the most successful company to only produce a single unique product? See OP for more info. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044 "2018-06-30T15:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/81 "2018-07-01T18:17:08Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Unless the Swiss Army Watch comes with a bunch of James Bond gadgets I’m not buying one. > > YKK the Japanese zipper company. As far as I know they just make zippers. [Nope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YKK) > [@](#): > > The YKK Group (YKK Waikeikei Gurūpu) is a Japanese group of manufacturing companies. As the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, YKK Group is most known for making zippers; however, it also manufactures other fastening products, architectural products, plastic hardware and industrial machinery. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/82 "2018-07-01T19:30:22Z")
_Absorbine_ Horse Lineament? I don’t know how big they are, but they have only that basic product. It does come in various sizes of containers, though. Once they found out many people were using the product on themselves, they introduced a human version (called _Absorbine Jr._), but that’s just a watered-down version of the horse lineament in a fancier package. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/83 "2018-07-01T19:43:10Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > _Absorbine_ Horse Lineament? I don’t know how big they are, but they have only that basic product. It does come in various sizes of containers, though. > > Once they found out many people were using the product on themselves, they introduced a human version (called _Absorbine Jr._), but that’s just a watered-down version of the horse lineament in a fancier package. They have a full line of [horse care products.](https://absorbine.com/) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/84 "2018-07-01T20:49:39Z")
Do UPI or Associated Press produce anything but news articles? Does publishing different articles/different subject matter disqualify them? Because as far as I know, they don’t produce different forms of them. How about EON Productions? All they make are James Bond films, right? But they’ve kept it up for a good long time and have made profit from them. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/85 "2018-07-01T21:11:34Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > How about EON Productions? All they make are James Bond films, right? But they’ve kept it up for a good long time and have made profit from them. Alas, no. They have produced [two other movies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eon_Productions#Other_productions): Bob Hope’s “Call Me Bwana” in 1963, and “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” (2017), and have a third non-Bond film (“The Rhythm Section”) currently in production, with a slated release next year. They apparently have a deal with Columbia Pictures to produce a number of other non-Bond films. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/86 "2018-07-01T21:27:44Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Do UPI or Associated Press produce anything but news articles? Does publishing different articles/different subject matter disqualify them? Because as far as I know, they don’t produce different forms of them. Sorry for multiple posts. AP and UPI produce a range of news items, including news stories, photographs, audio, and video (though I think UPI may not do the audio or video anymore). Given the OP’s very tight definition of “single unique product,” they’re far too diverse. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/87 "2018-07-01T22:32:39Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > …and merchandise. But does that count? Most entertainment companies, sports teams, etc., don’t _produce_ the t-shirts, caps, keychains, etc. that bear their name. Instead they license it out to other companies and collect the fees. Some of the old-time owners, like Bill Veeck in baseball and Bill Bidwill in football, had no other interests outside of their team ownership, and the teams didn’t own their stadiums. Is that a single, unique product? ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/88 "2018-07-01T22:46:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [The Brannock Device Co, Inc.](https://brannock.com/) has to be considered. The only make one thing: the Brannock Device, something everyone here (if they live in the US; I’m not sure if it’s used elsewhere) has definitely used at some point (though I doubt anyone here has ever bought one). They’ve been around since 1927 and going strong. > > Their web page only has Brannock devices, though they do come in different sizes and variation. But they make nothing else. They had sales of $1.5 million in 2001, despite the fact that they never wear out. Good lord, I never knew what that thing was called until now! Thanks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/89 "2018-07-02T00:59:25Z")
I couldn’t resist the Brannock Device “shop now” button. For 72.50, you can have this delicious conversation piece on your living room ottoman. Tell people you lifted it from a shoe store, for added intrigue. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/90 "2018-07-02T01:17:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I couldn’t resist the Brannock Device “shop now” button. For 72.50, you can have this delicious conversation piece on your living room ottoman. Tell people you lifted it from a shoe store, for added intrigue. Bonus points if you can get it [autographed by Ed O’Neill](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VW8CqnfhrrY/hqdefault.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/91 "2018-07-02T03:06:58Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Not really, because you haven’t defined “successful.” > > People are just posting whatever single-product company someone happens to know about, without providing any real objective criteria for why it should be “most successful.” Yes. That seems to be a good idea, and I’m reading with interest. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/92 "2018-07-02T04:26:35Z")
Now owned by the conglomerate Danone Group, but would Evian (from 1859 to 1970) selling only bottled mineral water from a single source not be a candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/93 "2018-07-02T08:10:38Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Most entertainment companies, sports teams, etc., don’t _produce_ the t-shirts, caps, keychains, etc. that bear their name. Instead they license it out to other companies and collect the fees. Well firstly there’s no way it would pass the OP’s ad hoc filter. But secondly I think it would be pretty misleading if we didn’t count merchandise as products of a team. For example, Manchester United makes more money on merchanizing than ticket sales and broadcast rights combined. So we’d be calling it one of the biggest organizations even as we handwave most of the revenue that makes it so big. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/94 "2018-07-02T15:00:08Z")
Did the original owner of Silly Putty make anything else? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/95 "2018-07-02T15:22:39Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Now owned by the conglomerate Danone Group, but would Evian (from 1859 to 1970) selling only bottled mineral water from a single source not be a candidate? By the OP’s thinking, only if they only sold one size of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/96 "2018-07-02T15:29:06Z")
Even if the teams don’t make and sell the merchandise themselves, they do sell the licensing for the merchandise. The license is itself a valuable product. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Assault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Textual\_Assault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Assault)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/97 "2018-07-02T16:44:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think you’re moving the goalposts from your original question. You originally said: > > Now, you’re defining it even more narrowly, saying that different colors or different sizes of the same product _also_ don’t count. If what you meant was “exactly one product, with no variations whatsoever” (which is what it now sounds like you meant), you should have said that upfront. Christ, don’t have a spazz.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/98 "2018-07-02T16:53:56Z")
> [@Textual\_Assault](#): > > Christ, don’t have a spazz.:rolleyes: Nice. I think I’m done with these threads of yours anyway. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/99 "2018-07-02T17:01:02Z")
I think a software company is likely to be the answer, although I’m not sure which one. Although almost all software companies do sell multiple products, they all pretty much start out selling exactly one. And given the marginal cost economics of the software industry, you can be _really successful_ selling just one product. So the question is how successful did a company get on a single piece of software, with the caveat that the software basically has to sell in only one configuration (no home/pro split, for example). Games are a winner-take-all market, and sometimes beginning publishers hit something out of the park right away, so I’d look at video game publishers. One possibility: Mojang, the publisher of Minecraft. According to wikipedia, between 2009 and 2012, they sold only Minecraft, and initially it was just offered on the PC, which should satisfy the requirements. It looks like they sold it only on the PC for the first ~4 million sales, with sales price being somewhere between 10-15 Euro. So, can anyone beat 40 million Euro? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044/100 "2018-07-02T17:15:08Z")
> [@Textual\_Assault](#): > > Christ, don’t have a spazz.:rolleyes: **Moderating** And don’t make personal remarks about other posters. If you are going to compose such highly specific and artificial questions, you need to make it extremely clear what the parameters are in the OP, or else most of the thread is going to be taken up by people asking you to define your terms. In the future, please be very specific in the OP in what you are asking, or I may close the thread. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-successful-company-to-only-produce-a-single-unique-product-see-op-for-more-info/817044.md?page=6)