Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/06/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Leica thinks it can be like Apple and have stand alone stores. Maybe it can, but they Leica isn't Apple. Apple had a big followingbefore it started to run its own stores. While Leica may have lost dealers, it's hard to imagine a dealer?buying into the Leica system. What does that cost, half a million?Is there that much profit in new cameras? No. The win is in sellingused Leica gear.Dealers traditionally carry a broader range of product than just one line.In New York, a dealer may be able to make it with one line of cameras,namely Leica. But can a dealer in Cincinnati make it that way? Given the giant leap in Leica prices, how many of us are going to buy?new Leica gear? That means Leica is going to have to develop a newmarket--one beyond the collectors who have one of everything Leica foreach of their homes.? People like us, I assume, will be lured away by camera manufacturerswho produce a great product in range finder form. Think Fuji. Think the xpro 2. As I've written here before, as Leica increaes its prices, it opens itself up to?be undersold: Fuji, Olympus, Sony come to mind.? Then again, maybe Leica isn't thinking long-term. Maybe it's just thinking American, which is to say short-term. Drive up the prices, increase profit margins, look good on paper, make an IOP killings and cash in.? Leica might reply: howwash. We sell everything we make in a bad economy. Think what it will be like, wenn alles wieder in Butter ist, when everything is good again. They may have a point. I'd feel better about their future if lurking in the wings was an autofocus M with movie capability. Who know, maybe there is. Who knows, maybe they will introduce a mini M to sell to consumers the way Canon and Nikon does. They may have "miracle" products in the pipeline, but given their history of trailing the market, this may be more than a fantasy. For me, Leica is bcoming less interesting while Fuji is becoming more interesting. The new Nikon catches my eye as does the Canon 5D Mark III with its high ISOs and silent mode. As it is, the M9 sounds noisy to me like the SLRs of yore.? It just seems to me Leica is no longer looking to photographers to buy its product. It is becoming a fashion statement. Pity is how many fashionistas will appreciate what fine glass they posses.? MFG-Doug