Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica USA no longer selling repair parts > Exactly. Strategy versus tactics. Win the battle and lose the war. > > JB > > On Friday, July 25, 2003, at 01:56 PM, Clive Moss wrote: > > > Leica is simply making another misstep in a long line of missteps. It > > has > > failed to respond competitively to several rounds of "disruptive > > technologies" in the Clay Christenson sense. What appears to be > > reasonable > > tactical management can often be awful strategic management. > > See e.g. http://www.disruptivetechnologies.com/ccinterview.html > > Kodak seems to be going down the same path, as did Polaroid. > > -- > John Brownlow As both a newbie to Leica (with no Leica baggage) and as a person with over 20 years of experience in the business world, I have a slightly different take on this topic. Leica is probably the only company in the world providing active support of products that are 25-35-50+ years old. B.D. a.k.a. "Mr. Sunshine" compares the Leica decision about parts sales to individuals to requiring owners of new automobiles to get repair service only at dealerships. This analogy is flawed. Try taking your classic 356 Porsche or '55 Chevy today to a dealer to get it repaired. Not even B.D.'s charm could pull this off. The real issue here is not some kind of corporate bumbling, or conspiracy to squeeze out the independent repair folks, or any other act of malfeasance by Leica. How many years have elapsed since many of these Leica camera parts were last produced? Is Leica willing to retool production to make more rangefinders for the M3, or shutter assemblies for the SL2? Or willing to contract a third party to manufacture a limited production run? In a time and in an industry driven more than ever by "disruptive technologies" (to borrow a phrase) and economic challenges, this is absurd. The simple fact is Leica is running out of many spare parts after all of these years of support. Leica is in a no win situation with this. Eliminating sales of parts to individuals may not be the result the Leica classic user wants in the short term, however, it's the only decision that makes any sense from a company perspective. Eliminating sales of dwindling parts inventory to individuals insures that Leica has access to any remaining stock so that Leica is in a better position to continue its support of its antique models. Gary - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html