Re: [Leica] What may the future hold?

["Dan Post" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

Greg Bicket-
I read with interest your thoughts, and I concur in part. I feel that Leica
will have to have a multi-layer market in order to survive. I really think
that they might be able to produce, in quantity, cameras aimed at the
masses, well made, but using automation, modern materials( read plastics)
and possibly Asian manufacturing.
Nikon and Canon have done it+ADs- they have a terrific line of cameras aimed at
the professional market, but they also market a lot of P+ACY-S cameras, and
entry level bodies. If  Nikon, Canon and Sigma can have some company like
Cosina make bodies to their specs, I cannot see why Leica could not do the
same- I am sure a lot of people do not require the horsepower of an R8, but
would nonetheless like to have a Leica body on which to put a Leica lens. I
think advertising and marketing as aggresively as the Japanese is going to
be necessary- Mercedes-Benz had to do it to compete on the world market, and
I think Leica may have to as well. It seems that to survive in today's
economic climate, some portion of your product line must appeal to a mass
audience.
I can see this trend in Hasselblads move to market a series of lenses that
are on a lower tier pricewise than their regular line- they also have
expanded their line of bodies to appeal to a larger group of users, and have
keep the older mechanical bodies as well.
There may be a M7 on the horizon, but I would hope that they might have an
alternative for those of us who do not require the 'built like a tank, last
forever, and never die+ACI- solidity of the current camera. I am sure that a
polycarbonate body, electronically shuttered, and mass produced camera,
along with an active advertising and marketing group, might bring the name
before the masses more.
This doesn't have to be a cheap copy of the Leicas we know and love, and it
doesn't have to be low quality- once the Leica name is more widely known, it
will no doubt open up demand from those who wish to 'move up'.
My +ACQ-.02 worth- an opinion only.
Dan
dwpost+AEA-msn.com