Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/08/08

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Subject: [Leica] Minor additional woe
From: jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)
Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2015 14:07:52 +0530
References: <5C7ABDCC-018D-4934-A61A-B9F9CB407EEB@acm.org> <F2DFBE7C-2CAC-4233-ACF9-F9FAA24EABA3@mac.com> <55C4D8D5.9040007@gmx.de> <B415DAE5-7D9C-40E6-8281-E4AB4B9F3635@mac.com> <CAH1UNJ3suQNrFUhFgNWohXHyhbuTxdeeqDr7TzxirDAvKLEL_w@mail.gmail.com> <039701d0d1b0$69e79ba0$3db6d2e0$@mcmaster.fr>

John,
That they are, and I don't disagree, but your buying the stuff they make
new is just icing on the cake as far as they are concerned. Their primary
market and focus lies elsewhere, and, irrespective of what you think,  I do
not fault them for that - on the other hand, I admire them as having taken
a quite brilliant business decision a decade ago. After all, they have to
survive by selling new equipment, not pandering to the wishes and
requirements of those fans/users who are unlikely ever to buy Leica stuff
new. I am sure that over 95% of the Leica using photographers seldom buy
their Leica stuff new, and the production has to be sold, after all, so
what choice do they have, but to take advantage of their hard earned
goodwill built over decades of excellence, and market their products as
bits of jewelry for whatever price the market will bear? Very sensible high
margin approach, which has worked very well over the last decade, but now
that the luxury market is flattening to reducing, we have to see what
future path they take. Let us not forget that they have to run a business,
and make money on it. No different in approach from what a Rolex, a
Montblanc or even a Mercedes/BMW would do - all of them have a large
proportion of their allure tied up in the aspirational desires of humans -
but that does not mean they turn out anything but the best they can, at
their price point. If you ask me, Leica's weakness in comparison to all
their luxury peers is what seems to be relatively weak after sales service
- they probably get away with it because a large part of their yearly
production is never used!

I personally would also think very seriously of adding to the icing if they
come up with a full frame, AF system based on the M series, as has been
rumoured, and they set up their dealership here in India by then, so that I
have a local outfit to handle problems if they occur.

Cheers
Jayanand

On Sat, Aug 8, 2015 at 1:31 PM, John McMaster <john at mcmaster.fr> wrote:

> For a company that is doing all that, they seem to spend a lot of time and
> money making some of the best lenses available for any system.......
>
> john
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
>
> Adam,
> It has been blindingly obvious for a long time, to anyone who does not have
> his eyes wide shut,  that Leica has morphed into a luxury marketing company
> (have you ever bothered to notice WHERE they advertise nowadays?)! They are
> opening boutiques in India now in partnership with the largest
> dealers/purveyors of luxury goods here. However, there is hope for them
> though, to change back into a photographic company, now that luxury goods
> sales in China have drastically plunged across the board.
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 10:06 PM, Adam Bridge <abridge at mac.com> wrote:
>
> > That?s even worse.
> >
> > AB
> >
> > > On Aug 7, 2015, at 9:12 AM, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp at gmx.de>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > AFAIK Marketing is now the top level and covers customer relations,
> > repairs, returns, complaints and technical matters.
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > > Douglas
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


Replies: Reply from frank.dernie at btinternet.com (FRANK DERNIE) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
In reply to: Message from kanner at acm.org (Herbert Kanner) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
Message from abridge at mac.com (Adam Bridge) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
Message from douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
Message from abridge at mac.com (Adam Bridge) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)
Message from john at mcmaster.fr (John McMaster) ([Leica] Minor additional woe)