Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I was just looking over Leica's first quarter, 1999/2000 financial report (covering April-June, 1999), available as a pdf file from their website at http://www.leica-camera.com/untern/ir/ir_e.htm M system sales are up 24.5% thanks, according to the report, to the new TTL cameras. While the TTL move hasn't been overwhelmingly popular on this list (based on past postings), it apparently is with the public at large, to Leica's credit. R system sales, on the other hand, are down another 14% compared to the first quarter of last year. That's after plummeting 44% in the first quarter of last year compared to the year before. In fact, looking at last year's first quarter report (also downloadable from Leica's web site), R system sales have dropped by more than half compared to the quarter two years ago. The Annual Report said that R system sales dropped 37% for the year last year, to slightly below where they were before the R8 and new lenses were introduced. Somehow, I suspect Leica didn't invest research and development money into the R8 with the expectation that just a few years later sales would drop below where they were before those Deutch marks were spent. The first quarter report, while emphasizing the importance of the M system to the company, says that Leica expects to meet their corporate goal of breaking even for the year (they lost 3.1 million DM for the quarter, after taxes) in part with the help of the introduction of two new compact cameras. Yes, this is cynical. But the report leaves me with the clear impression that Leica's future rests on the M system and a couple of new point-and-shoots. Larry