Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]What do you mean loss of revenue? Leica parts are not exactly cheap. - ------------ Dante Stella On Fri, 25 Jul 2003, Jim Laurel wrote: > Gary, > I agree with you in that a manufacturer cannot be expected to provide parts > support indefinately for very old products. Leica, however, looks very > proudly to thier illustrious past, and it would seem to make sense to > continue to support these older cameras. It is indeed reasonable to me that > a manufacturer would horde the last supplies of parts for very old products. > But the recent announcement is not limited to parts for these older cameras. > We're talking about, for example, a customer purchasing a replacement rewind > crank for a current M7. Even for such a simple replacement, we are now > expected to send the camera back to Leica USA. > > It's important to remember that Leica is not alone in this type of policy. > I called Nikon the other day to obtain a replacement spring (a flimsy > pressed steel part) for a Nikon SF-200 slide feeder, only to be told that I > would have to send the whole feeder back to them for estimate and repair. I > consider the spring to be user replaceable. It's just bent and I can easily > swap it out in about 5 minutes with a simple philips screwdriver. I don't > need some level 1 tech at Nikon to look at it and make a more informed > decision. The problem is obvious. As I can't afford to be without the > feeder right now, I have bent the existing spring into submission and while > it works, a new spring would be better. The net for Nikon is an unhappy > user who bitches about thier film scanner in public forums that are read > worldwide by prospective customers. I don't expect Nikon to be responsible > for any damage I may do to the feeder in the process of any servicing I do > myself, but I do at least expect them to provide parts. > > I think John Brownlow is correct in his comment "win the battle, lose the > war". With the exception of the M rangefinder system, Leica has very few > competitive advantages these days, and the most valuable of these is the > loyalty of the existing customer base. Alienating these people is a grave > mistake that, in the long run, will prove far more damaging to the company > than the small loss of revenue that results from selling spare parts to > independent repair people. > > --Jim > > > Gary Williams wrote: > > 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. > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html