Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/28

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica as a business
From: Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be>
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 16:40:08 +0100

Gary,

Certainly Leica should stick to its defining characteristic, i.e. optical
quality. But even within those parameters there are good and bad ways to run
the business. Nobody is suggesting that Leica become a mass market producer.
But the fact is that they need to sell more cameras and lenses, or move
production out of Germany, or find other revenue sources and cost-cutting
measures. With the current trend in their financials, they will be out of
business (worst outcome) or swallowed up by someone else (could be OK
depending on the acquirer).

Nathan

Gary D. Whalen wrote:

>   All of this talk about marketing and the "bottom line" concerning
> Leica is interesting but irrelevent.  Leica has only one approach to
> survival.  They must continue to make the very best lenses in the
> world.  Leica lenses are not a perception they are, at least in my view,
> a fact.  Leica can't try and compete on a quantity level.  The MUST
> compete on a quality level.  For every product line in the world there
> are mass producers and high-end producers.  The bottom line isn't market
> share, the bottom line is EPS.



- --
Nathan Wajsman
Overijse, Belgium

Photography page:  http://members.tripod.com/~belgiangator/index.html
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