Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]John Collier wrote: > on 19/1/00 9:06 pm, Stephen Gandy at leicanikon@earthlink.net wrote: > > > Perhaps it would be a good time to bring out a > > CL2. A new small compact M would be lower priced, and offer definite choices > > to the buyer between a CL2 and a M6. > > > > The entry level M could be sold to the newbie with "Would you rather buy a > > COSINA or a real Leica for only $250 more?" The experienced M user would > > have > > it all figured out, and just go for it. > > I always thought, and I thought you did too Stephen, that the CL > single-handedly killed off the M5, all but destroyed the regular M sales and > did not make the company much money. Though I suppose M***** did okay. I am > not arguing against it (or the CL for that matter) but perhaps Leica is > feeling once bitten twice shy. > > John Collier I agree with the M5 and CL. the problem is that Leica needs an entry level M which 1) can successfully compete against the Bessa M 2) does not alienate M6 TTL buyers for all practical purposes, the Bessa M is an updated CL in a different shape -- still low cost, more framelines, better RF/VF, but still not able to focus fast or long lenses If Leica sells a stripped down M6 TTL without flash metering for the price necessary to compete with the Bessa, it will have to lower the M6 TTL price or piss a lot of people off. of course, Leica could do probably do that if they eliminated the overhead of their dealer network and sold directly to the buyer over the internet -- like Gateway or Dell. a hidden benefit would be much better cash flow, since retail payment would occur before shipment. unfortunately for everyone, I doubt very much if Leica management is that far sighted. Stephen Gandy