Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/18

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Subject: [Leica] A different Leica, non-survival, perspective (was LUG to the rescue)
From: corkflor at iol.ie (Alex Hurst)
Date: Fri Feb 18 14:46:07 2005
References: <000001c51604$e15cc200$6501a8c0@dorysrusp4>

Dan wrote:

>I have been trying for almost five months to buy a new Leica lens.
>Unfortunately, they want to make 75 Summicrons instead of 50 Summilux
>ASPH's.  I have a 75 Summilux so no dice there.

Dan, you're dealing with a very confused and demoralised company. 
I've never bought a single item of Leica kit new, but you and people 
like you are at least trying to keep it alive. Like others on the 
LUG, I suspect this is ultimately a futile exercise.

>
>I'm with Mark, very, very soon I will join the DCanon brigade and the
>Leica stuff will collect dust if I'm charitable, or go on the block if
>I'm not.
>
>Companies that make what they want, and not what their customers want
>soon find their way to insolvency.
>
>I suspect an Asian company like Cosina will buy the name in receivership
>and make interesting things with the name and red dot.  Or, if the Zeiss
>camera is real, then we will go that direction if we want film.
>Possibly, the Zeiss/Cosina combine will make the digital M we have all
>wanted and Leica will become just another Exacta, Miranda, Zeiss Ikon,
>or some other company in the dustbin of history.
>

Cosina is my best bet too. Panasonic comes a close second, given 
their existing Leice digital relationships.

Either of these companies could probably buy Leica out of their petty cash.

I will offer my hostage to fortune and predict that Solms on their 
current performance will be bust within 12 months unless they're 
taken over and/or receive a massive cash injection..

It was entirely apparent on my recent trip to Barcelona. I was using 
retro film Leicas. Everyone else was using Japanese digital,

Solms have had plenty of time to see this coming, and, IMHO, their 
response to rapidly evolving market conditions has been far too late 
and totally inappropriate.

But then, it almost always has been. What can one say when the last 
real innovation in the company was the Leica M3 over 50 years ago?

Yours in considerable sorrow

Alex




-- 
Alex Hurst
Waterfall
Nr. Cork
Ireland

Tel: +353 214 543 328 (H)
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Replies: Reply from daniel.ridings at edd.uio.no (Daniel Ridings) ([Leica] A different Leica, non-survival, perspective (was LUG to the rescue))
Reply from feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli) ([Leica] A different Leica, non-survival, perspective (was LUG to the rescue))
In reply to: Message from dorysrus at mindspring.com (Don Dory) ([Leica] LUG to the rescue)