One of the last Finnish monopolies “in the wild”.
@ 9:03 am 
An Abloy “Executive” lock on the door of a cleaning closet.
Have you ever been to the hardware store to look for locks? How many brands of door locks did you find on the shelf? I have only ever really seen one brand, Abloy. I went to Bauhaus recently, thinking that since it is a German hardware store chain, I would find a variety of types and brands of door locks. I especially wanted to see some German ones and their pricing and appearance. However, there was only one brand there on the shelf, Abloy. It was an hour’s drive wasted. They have several different toilets and 15 or so different showers, but only one brand of lock, and a very expensive one at that. I also went to a lock shop and asked what different brands of locks they have. The seller looked at me quite blankly and said, “Abloy”. Then I asked him the prices. The tumbler: about 75 EUR. The locking mechanism: 46 EUR. The handle: about 20 EUR: Total, about 141 EUR.At my workplace, I noticed all the cleaning closets have exacly that combination on them, but with an “Executive” lock tumbler, which is even more expensive. Is that expensive a door lock really necessary on a cleaning closet? It certainly isn’t for what I need on my sauna building, where there is at most some used shampoo bottles to steal. But where do I buy a cheaper door lock? Noone has any selection. Even the door manufacturers sell only doors with Abloy locking mechanisms in them.
We can see the Abloy prices are quite expensive in Finland. This is probably due to the near 100% monopoly that Abloy has had over this country in door locks. Many Finnish people will tell you that they would buy no other brand of lock. Well, I have been trying to look for a lock for my sauna building and I don’t think I quite need one that costs 141 EUR. I know at Walmart in the US, I can find a doorlock with knobs, a locking mechanism, deadbolt, etc. for 20-30 dollars. After all, a lock is not going to stop a determined theif, but a good intruder detection system will.
Assa-Abloy is the one of the largest lock manufacturers in the world, if not the largest. The locks have the reputation of being unpickable and the best. That means if a burglar breaks in, there will be signs of intrusion, ie. a broken door, window, or the lock drilled out. But Assa-Abloy needs competition, just like any other business. Abloy owns all the familiar brands of lock you see in Finland: Abloy, Boda, Ving Card (hotels), Assa (Assa-Abloy), Primo (handles), etc. But is the pricing at the level it should be? It seems that Assa-Abloy is very hush-hush about their pricing online. You will find it difficult to find their prices anywhere, and there seems to be no online shops. Even in a lock shop, there are rarely the prices on the shelf.
Since Abloy is part of one of the largest lock manufacturers in the world, they don’t really need charity from the Finnish people, who have serious challenges with buying power otherwise as well. I think the pricing could easily be a fraction of what it currently is in Finland. Why punish the people who put you in business? Loyalty can quickly turn if someone comes up with better technology at a better price. We are rapidly starting to see electronic locks at prices homeowners can afford. Abloy certainly does not have a patent stranglehold on that technlogy, either. And many companies make much better deadbolts than the Abloy ones I have seen. A good electronic lock with a Cisa quadruple deadbolt is more secure than an Abloy any day of the week.
What about the insurance companies? They have a list of approved locks. A few years ago, all the locks on the list were products of one company, Assa-Abloy, with the exception of padlocks and the ones on Crawford Doors. Nowadays, you can see several different brands.
Here is a link of a new competitor for Abloy, sold right here in Finland. As you can see, the prices are about one fifth or less of Abloy’s prices. The locks are manufactured in Latvia. This is what I am going to put on my sauna building, probably. http://www.balticindustries.fi
Here is a link to a YouTube video of someone “picking” and Abloy lock, which means using a power drill to drill a hole through the disks.
