RE: [Leica] Leica in trouble?

[Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>]

Erwin,

I generally rely on you for hard facts and substantiated opinions regarding 
debates on the optical performances of lenses. I put a lot of confidence in 
your work and thank you for sharing with us the results of your efforts.

I am a bit puzzled and uncomfortable with this latter post, which follows a 
couple of similar ones in the last few weeks.

Opinions on the management and on the strategic choices of a company form a 
legitimate and instructive discussion. As customers of Leica, we invest 
heavily in lines of equipment. It is perfectly normal that we use this 
forum to try to decode the corporate strategy of that company, if only to 
control the future of our investments.

The fact that we freely choose a line of products sold at prices between 3 
and 5 times higher than those of the competition does not prevent us from 
making sure our buying decisions are sound, on grounds other than sheer 
useability and performances: durability, future support, evolutivity, 
quality control, technology choices are only some of the fields that need 
to be discussed. The LUG, even with the unequal level of credibility of its 
posts, is very instructive for buyers and prospective buyers who otherwise 
have ZERO information on the Leica current policies (plenty of 
'archelogical' data out there though...).

Leica's corporate policy is very seldom covered by the specialised press, 
and the interviews of Leica managers are very rare. It is only logical that 
we compare the small pieces of information some of us have access to, and 
it is only logical that we interpret together the future developments these 
pieces of information might actually lead to.

There is no hierarchy of credentials on the LUG, and each poster and reader 
is in a position to discuss usefully the opinions and data that appear here 
every now and then.

It is the responsibility of the Leica management to interact with this user 
group and other user groups, one way or another, to make sure their stra  
tegy is well documented. I would be surprised if there was a larger  more 
interactively prolific Leica user group than the LUG anywhere.

It is a shame the Leica corporation does not seem to evaluate the 
consequences on their image that derives from what is communicated in this 
on-line community. In the Internet age, any new prospective buyer is going 
to consult the web and the news groups to find out more about a line of 
product such as photography equipment. Leica's silence is not helping them. 
Leica is not the Kremlin of the Seventies: it needs to interact.

Asking luggers to be more modest and stop discussing Leica's corporate 
policy is asking to have blind faith. Some luggers do have that faith, but 
most of us are reasonable people who demand reasonable data and 
information. Till the Leica company realises that, we are going to have to 
rely on the exchange of information that is taking place here.

Alan

On dimanche 2 mai 1999 17:28, Erwin Puts [SMTP:imxputs@knoware.nl] wrote:
> Some time ago it was very fashonable to study every gesture and word from
> the Kremlin occupants, as we in the West were very anxious that the guys
> there would develop some plan we could not foresee and adequately respond
> to. Kremlin watching was a big game and in hindsight a terrible waste of
> energy and also almost alwats dead wrong.
>
> The Lug seems to have adopted this habit in a new kind of Leica watching.
> We hear from informed sources, we read between lines in interviews, we
> speculate on every sentence from every one who seems to know, if ever so
> remotely, and every bit of info is accepted as truth to speculate 
further.
> And we fear that whatever happens at Solms it will either give us new
> products we hate to love or it will give us familiar products with cost
> cutting measurements we love to hate.
>
> To survive Leica needs to sell products in fairly large  quantities and 
at
> the same time with a very high quality at a fairly acceptable price. It 
is
> highly probable that the company knows how to do this. Let us wait and 
see.
> I am amazed at the level of unsubstantiated info  and fast drawn
> conclusions sprinkled on this list. We all would be better off and more
> informed if we were a bit more careful here.
>
> The company is changing into a new mood and with a focused direction. 
Yes,
> there is financial trouble and some cost cutting unavoidable. In fact 
some
> painful measures have been taken. The company knows where to slash costs
> without jeopardizing its core business.
>
> The next four years are very important for the company. Let us be 
critical
> when their products fail to deliver and be enthousiastic when they do. 
That
> is our role as consumers. As we do not know the big picture it is unwise 
to
> speculate beyond our horizon of expertise of using the Leica products.
>
>
> Erwin