Now I know why the M8 price increase

[Tuolumne]

A study of the demographics of their buyers would be fascinating. Oh, and it's not what they sold last year, it's how many they'll sell next year and the year after. And what will they sell? If this is truly a viable market you'll see competitors enter it and then Leica will have to play catch-up.

/T

 

[jaapv]

Major new advances seem to come every two years in the dSLR world.

Most of these upgrades are things like improved AF, larger buffers, more FPS and other stuff that does not interest rangefinder users. There is very little difference, on the other hand , for instance, between the sensor of a Canon D60 and 30D. 2Mp, a bit better noise, that's about it. That is what? an eight year cycle, assuming the real improvement is coming now?

 

[Ben Z]

A study of the demographics of their buyers would be fascinating.

I would be astonished to learn that Leica hadn't done just that. It's key to the development of any product.

Oh, and it's not what they sold last year, it's how many they'll sell next year and the year after.

If you talk to some of the big (in relative terms of course) Leica dealers, they say that more than other brands Leica's have a bigger initial surge that tapers off quickly. The teething trouble I think may have put more people into wait-and-see mode than was the case with the M7 for example, but still I think this year was the biggest sales year for the M8 that Leica will see.

If this is truly a viable market you'll see competitors enter it and then Leica will have to play catch-up.

'Viable market" is relative. Remember, Leica is a tiny company. To them $100 million (20K units @ $5K per) is a huge revenue, while to Canon or Nikon it's chump change. So if there is outside competition it will have to be another tiny company...and, lacking the panache and mystique of the Leica name, their product will not only have to be better, it'll have to be cheaper too. But I hope for Leica's sake there is more competition in the future. IMO if it weren't for Konica there mightn't have been an M7, and if not for Epson/Cosina there mightn't be an M8.

 

[Tuolumne]

" I would be astonished to learn that Leica hadn't done just that. It's key to the development of any product." - Well, yes, but it's not available to ME!

"The teething trouble I think may have put more people into wait-and-see mode than was the case with the M7 for example, but still I think this year was the biggest sales year for the M8 that Leica will see." - I think the price increase is a push to get people off the fence. They can always adjust the price later after all of the fence-sitters have bought.

" If this is truly a viable market you'll see competitors enter it and then Leica will have to play catch-up." - I'll stand by this statement. I don't even think the film rangefinder market is viable by the standards of the big boys, but there are three active players in it today. This will happen to dRFs, too. A sensor with 15-18 MP, good noise at 800 iso and dynamic range of another 2 stops will be as obsolescence proof as any piece of technology can be today. When that is available (maybe 18-24 months) the real dRF battle will begin. I can hardly wait!

/T

 

[cme4brain]

Doctors bury their mistakes, Leica raises their prices on theirs! 🙂

We can bury the mistake but not the medical records!

 

[Tuolumne]

Most of these upgrades are things like improved AF, larger buffers, more FPS and other stuff that does not interest rangefinder users. There is very little difference, on the other hand , for instance, between the sensor of a Canon D60 and 30D. 2Mp, a bit better noise, that's about it. That is what? an eight year cycle, assuming the real improvement is coming now?

Jaap,
I think the newly announced Nikons available in Nov. have alot more going for them than just a few feature twiddles. And I believe this announcement comes about 2 years after the introduction of the D200.

/T