Godfrey
somewhat colored
... This is Leica's strategy now--be as out of reach as possible. It may keep Leica afloat, but a lot of good shooters will be migrating to other platforms and in turn, those brands will become richer while Leica gathers cobwebs.
I disagree completely. What you quoted is typical of the misleading anthropomorphic caricature that I so dislike in humor like this. The numbers of users is irrelevant. Profitability is relevant.
Leica has made a very serious commitment to the future with the S system and the M digital line. In the meantime, they're selling every camera and lens they can make ... no other*camera company's profits have gone up faster than Leica's since 2009. There are huge numbers of new users buying Leica Ms now, compared to 8-10 years ago, despite the price. They're building new production facilities where other companies are cutting back production.
And ... Leica cameras and lenses are the 100% revenue producing products of Leica Camera AG. Success with their new models is essential to their survival, and it certainly looks like they're on a successful track. The new production facilities will hopefully allow them to step up production so that the several months backlog of pre-orders and waiting customers don't have to wait so long.
Remember that Fujifilm cameras are a *tiny* piece of Fuji. Fuji can jettison the entire camera division with barely a blip in the bottom line. A couple ten-thousand cameras barely means anything other than corporate pride to them. The camera division doesn't have to be profitable for Fuji to survive, but they'll happily take whatever profits they return.
Price isn't everything in camera equipment sales. I similarly see a huge number of people buying Canon 5D III, 1D X, Nikon D4, D800, D800E, Sony A99, scads of high end lenses from all companies. Heck, even an Xpro1 and a few lenses is several thousand dollars worth of gear. These things are not cheap by any means. Just because you and I might not be willing to spend $3000 for a lens doesn't mean that there are no customers who are. According to the dealers I chat with, there are plenty of people who would love to get their hands on a few new lenses, if only Leica could make enough of them ...
G