"Blackstone is not happy with Leica"

[Michael Markey]

The problem is ...although some of the facts may be wrong ...there shouldn`t be all this constant background static and flawed product.

Clearly they aren`t getting the fundamentals correct.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Close down Wetzlar...
Merge w/Panasonic...
Move to Mexico or China...
Bring pricing down..
Get rid of those Leica stores...well...maybe keep one in Paris or something..
The end..

 

[Michael Markey]

You might be on to something there Emile ... 🙂

 

[Huss]

Close down Wetzlar...
Merge w/Panasonic...
Move to Mexico or China...
Bring pricing down..
Get rid of those Leica stores...well...maybe keep one in Paris or something..
The end..

That is what a group like Blackstone would want.
Except w/o bringing the pricing down.

 

[Ronald M]

The world has changed. Smart phone has a camera that works pretty well.

Honestly the M9 takes no better pics than my D750, but has some nice travel ergonomics. I have stood at one place and done a M8 and D7000 at the same time. I am hard put to differentiate them. The Nikon had a $200 35 1.8 lens. On closer examination the Leica was easy to spot, moire in fine details.

The smaller body certainly makes it nice to carry, but now you get $15000 to $20,000 and it makes walking the street somewhat unnerving. I normally have more than 3 lenses so it is even worse.

Sensor lines require a repair trip, 3 months gone and then you hope it is right. I know of some that want back 2 more times with gross errors and repair damaged camera.

I was looking for a new 35. The new FLE has weird field curvature that changes as as you stop down. $5000 I think not. I probably would opt for a 2.4 Summarit. ASpH is a 15 year old design that needs replacing.

35 1.4 Nikon is a more than decent lens.

You can not sell $5000 soccer mom camera no matter how well they are polished.

What average photog will buy a $25000 S body with a limited range of expensive lenses. You need a troop of body guards for that set up.

I still contend the R10 would have been a really good choice. Let someone make it for you and you make the new AF lenses or let me use my old R lenses. M240 is not a solution. D800 Nikon with Leitax mount is.

Leica misread the demand then the M9 appeared and started a new factory. Beautiful factory, but FF demand is filled. I guess you will outsource some more consumer cameras.

Then you had money to buy Sinar. What for?? I am surprised they did not buy Rollie.

Maybe the solution is just to raise prices 10% every year. Oh they tried that every year since 1980.

Or they could lock independent repairers out of parts. That failed too.

 

[fireblade]

I`ve got a tweed jacket and brouges 😀

............ 😀

 

[Emile de Leon]

Same thing is happening in the music industry in Japan..
Labor is too high there..no profit..
I'm talking about drum manufacture..
Funny to say this ...that the US is killing them outright now..DW & Ludwig drums..killing Japan that is..
So they/Japan.. are retooling in China..to stay alive..to compete against the US..and others..

 

[jsrockit]

Close down Wetzlar...
Merge w/Panasonic...
Move to Mexico or China...
Bring pricing down..
Get rid of those Leica stores...well...maybe keep one in Paris or something..
The end..

Yeah, that most likely will be the end. Has a luxury brand ever been turned into a consumer brand and survived? I honestly don't know...

 

[noimmunity]

A day late and a dollar short - Schopf is officially gone in favor of Kaltner, the new CEO.

According to the link, Schopf came out of the optical industry, whereas Kaltner hails from marketing. That one detail pretty much says it all.

Little by little, the restructuring process is changing the "soul" of what Leica has been.

 

[FrozenInTime]

If I can also play armchair CEO :

Can't help but feel Blackstone bought in expecting the M9 and M lens sales curve to continue upwards with the M.240 ( then more with the new models ) - but X-Vario, T and M.240 all fell short and lens sales drifted as Sony,Zeiss and Fuji tempted customers away with better spec'd bodies and native lenses that are matched to those bodies - and much better value for money.

My fixes:

Embrace micro43 - great compact bodies like GX7,GM5 ; make/brand more prime lenses for the system.

Concentrate resources on M and S - Kill the X and T ( embrace micro43 perhaps working jointly on fixed lens m43 compacts )

Give traditionalists the slim minimalist M body.
Work on the bells and whistles M for the new generation - Gobal shutter , panasonic video and processing expertise.

 

[lynnb]

Might be better if Apple invested in Leica rather than Panasonic. Small change for Apple, and their UI and design skills are up there. Then Apple could have a finger in both ends of the market, consumer and prestige. For the exceptionally well heeled, a boutique shop release of the Ives-Newson M; for Leica enthusiasts, an M that incorporates Apple's strengths in connectivity, user interface and app store updates that makes it a preferred choice for the current generation who want more than an iPhone, while retaining manual controls and full compatibility for traditional users.

 

[danielsterno]

Might be better if Apple invested in Leica rather than Panasonic. Small change for Apple, and their UI and design skills are up there. Then Apple could have a finger in both ends of the market, consumer and prestige. For the exceptionally well heeled, a boutique shop release of the Ives-Newson M; for Leica enthusiasts, an M that incorporates Apple's strengths in connectivity, user interface and app store updates that makes it a preferred choice for the current generation who want more than an iPhone, while retaining manual controls and full compatibility for traditional users.

Brillant idea!

 

[Keith]

Good grief ... what's their problem? 😱

I gave them nearly eight grand middle of last year ... did they waste it? 🙁

😀

 

[lynnb]

Good grief ... what's their problem? 😱

I gave them nearly eight grand middle of last year ... did they waste it? 🙁

😀

that's 2,000 cups of coffee.. how many staff at Wetzlar?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I know a little, do forgive me. Leica Camera is the part of bigger trio isn't it?
Replacing one Kopff is one thing, splitting company is another bigger procedure.

 

[uhoh7]

about the new CEO:
"It is questionable, however, whether the equally brash as nimble Kaltner who has previously worked among others at Microsoft and Sony, fits into the contemplative culture of Leica. In his previous employers had endured not always long the economist. It's quite possible that he is only a manageable guest performance even with Leica."

remind me not to buy any novels translated by google LOL

But maybe this is the guy to give us back the M6 footrpint!!

I can dream, can't I?

 

[noisycheese]

Leica makes special edition camera kits like the M60 and Lenny Kravitz set for mega wealthy posers - God knows no real photographer is going to buy either of those outfits.

It's starting to sound like the mega wealthy posers are not keeping up their end of the deal.

 

[ramosa]

Uhoh. It's ok to dream. I do, too, about Leica. They have just really lost their way in the last few years ... to the point where a digital Leica has no appeal to me.

 

[ramosa]

Leica makes special edition camera kits like the M60 and Lenny Kravitz set for mega wealthy posers - God knows no real photographer is going to buy either of those outfits.

It's starting to sound like the mega wealthy posers are not keeping up their end of the deal.

It has gotten really embarrassing, indeed.

 

[semilog]

I'll just say it. The middle and upper middle classes are being systematically gutted. This is the neoliberal project initiated c. 1980, the momentum of which is now essentially irreversible.

This leaves Leica's only possible market in 2015 as the newly-minted well-to-do. Unfortunately, the newly-minted well-to-do never have had taste, and never will.

And Leica, without a customer base that: (a) can afford their stuff; and (b) has taste, is dead in the water.