Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/31

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Economics 101
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 11:48:39 -0500

At 11:07 AM 1/31/98 EST, Tom Shea wrote:
>You are out of touch with today's reality.  In many areas, the Japanese
>produce goods with unsurpassed quality.  

I would appreciate your refraining from personal attacks.

We are not speaking of the quality of Japanese products:  we are speaking
of the engineering parameters to which the products are built.  The
Japanese have a much more lucid understanding of market conditions than has
been displayed by American or European concerns for the most part.

Thus, the Japanese first determine the price point, then determine what it
will cost to produce the item, then establish the engineering standards to
which the item will be built.  The Germans, on the other hand, tend to work
through the process in reverse.  

Hence, the Germans produce excruciatingly priced items of superb quality,
the Japanese, by and large, produce items of excellent quality at a much
lower price.

Obviously, as with any generalization, there are specific exceptions.  And
the Japanese COULD produce a lens of the quality of, say, the 15mm
Super-Elmarit but, to do so, they would have to charge as much as does
Leica.  There simply is no evading the realities of the marketplace.

You might wish to discuss this with some of those involved in this process,
such as Blake Zeigler from Kyocera USA or Alan Nomano, the "father" of the
Contax SLR system.

Marc


msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!