Here is a recent Southwick Associates' Angler Survey showing who has top market share in the following categories and their percentage of market. There are some surprises to me listed such as rod brand and hard bait brand.

Rod- Shakespeare - 10%
Reel- Shimano - 21.1%
Fishing Line= Berkley Trilene, Power Pro- 11.2%
Hard bait- Rapala - 23.5%
Soft bait- Berkley, ZOOM - 12.8%, 12.6%
Hook- Gamakatsu - 24.7%
Depthfinder - Lowrance 43%, Humminbird 42.9%
Tacklebox- Plano - 44%

Shakespeare???? Shouldnt you be fishing!

actually the reel surprises me. I would have guessed zebco. My guess on the rods is that brand loyalty on premium rods spreads the percentages too thin. I would have thought the same to be true for reels--except that shimano has been the "gold standard" for 20 years. Their market share will decrease in the next few years with quality product from Abu, Lews, and more affordable options from Daiwa.

About to head to work again...LOL..3 more hsifts at the part time gig and I am back to having time to fish!

I am surprised Shakespeare rods are not higher than that. A lot of people that are just taking up fishing for a day walk out with one I am sure. The others make sense as well. Rapala is used world wide for hundreds of fish species both fresh and salt.

The Ugly Stick has reigned supreme for 30 years. Probably will never be knocked off the top.

Their "angler" and a bass tournament angler are two different things. Two different sets of data.

All of my saltwater gear is an Ugly Stick. Call me a snob but I wouldn't use it bass fishing. For salt water and inshore though they are impossible to beat for the cash.

I wonder where the other 90% is broken down. I bet BPS and Allstar have to be up there too due to the price point.

Mark Jones nailed it. Angler vs. Tourney angler brand survey would yeild entirely different results!

Is that for all species though? Bass fisherman tourney or not, I don't fish tourneys anymore, but we're more brand loyal. And also have some brands that are focused just towards us.
Then there's also anglers who go out and toss a line every now and then as opposed to most of us who try to be fishing as much as possible. If I were an occasional angler as opposed to fishing on a regular basis I would probably be content with what I could get at Walmart. Since my gear get used quite a bit I try to buy the best I can afford.
If you look at the list;
Shakespear, guessing Ugly Stick leads the sales there. Can be found at any store that sales fishing gear. Priced very reasonably. Pretty heavy marketing campaign. Funny commercials that people will remember. Actually a quality rod especially for the money.
Shimano, most popular baitcasting reel with the Curado. But also makes and saturates the sporting goods stores with reasonably priced spinning gear.
Trilene, again can be found anywhere. Priced lower than a lot of lines and a lot of places use it as their bulk line.
Same goes for the hooks and soft plastics. Most commonly found in most stores. Zoom always seems to have the largest selections. And priced affordable. Berkley has the heaviest marketing campaign. The average Joe shmo angler is going to think it's the best because of their ads. Gamukatso hooks are also the most common on the shelves and used in many other baits, jigs and so on.
All of which are decent products. But I think it has more to do with the average fisherman and market saturation. Not every area is lucky enough to have 2 BPS' and 2 Cabelas along with all the other places to get what we really want.
Just my .02

So true

Best I can tell this is a random survey done, not actual sales. Garmin is bigger than Lowrance and Hummingbird combined