Leica Posts Wider Loss

[eos 10 fan]

Associated Press is reporting, through Forbes.com, that "Leica Camera

AG warned Wednesday that its fiscal year 2004-2005 net loss reached

euro15.5 million (US$20.1 million), adding that it was in talks with

its banks to keep lines of credit secure."

 

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2005/04/13/ap1943077.html

 

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[richard s.]

Bad news indeed for Leica and its employees. But not sure what this has to do with the price of tea in China as they say! Whether Leica sinks or swims in no way will affect my photography. And there are plenty of decent Barnacks / Ms out there ....

 

Now if DAG or Sherry Krauter or the like were going out of business, that would be news.

[stephen_w.]

RS,

 

I would disagree. If Leica were to fold, a lot of factory trained tech's would be available to start their own business.

[richard s.]

Stephan - good point. So Leica folding could actually be a boon to us all. The existing inventory such that it is, would probably be sold by the administrators cheap to off load it, and there would be at least a couple of new Leica repair shops opening up. Excellent, should help to drive the price of a CLA down here in Japan. On the other hand, a savage price war could wipe out all the the repair people!

[steve_hoffman]

C'mon.

[blakley]

Maybe they need to raise prices....

 

Oh wait, never mind.

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

If Leica stops production, the value of at least the new equipment on the shelves should skyrocket, shouldn't it? Not sure about old stuff.

 

I'm guessing that the people with large surpluses in their bank balances; doctors, dentists, who would have an appreciation for fine instruments, when they buy photo equipment, are nowgoing for high end digital. Younger professionals might not even have a feel for things that are merely analog & mechanical.

[ben z]

I can't blame them John, how can I expect my doctor or dentist to treat me with the latest state of the art technology and then chide him for using a digital camera?

[anthony_brookes5]

Businesses build up layers of fat over the years and it is a very strong management that continusously keeps it under control. New management should be able to turn this business around. The field glasses scopes and digital are doing well. It is only the analogue that is declining. New mangement and a revised capital structure should pull this through.

[jacques_balthazar2]

What would really help Leica survive, and would secure what is left of the film-based market, would be the launch of 1600 ISO slide films with the grain and contrast curves of a Provia 400. And an upgrade of the Superia 1600 to give results similar to current mainstream mid-sensitivity neg films. And an upgrade of Tmax 3200 going the same way.

 

Once you have tasted the joys of excellent 1600/3200 shots on a current DSLR, as well as the joys of freely adaptable ISO settings anytime, as well as white balance tweaking at your fingertips, there is no way the current film based technology can satisfy you. Unless you are a tri-x home lab kind of guy, of course.

 

Leica has been cut to the knees by the digital technology leaps of the last 24 months, combined with the results of the unexpected price war that came simultaneously. I suspect that Leica, like many others, was expecting this massive change to happen more gradually, giving them time to come up with their alternatives. Now they are stuck with a ridiculous R digital back dinosaur (looked good 18 months ago, but looks utterly stupid when a R 'cron fits on a 20D or even a 350D) and even their M fans are now buying...Epson gear.

 

How many of us would have thought 18 months ago that they could proudly carry the Epson logo across their Lacoste shirt?

 

Looking at Fuji and Kodak, I do not see any low grain high sensitivity films on the radar. Bringing Velvia to 100 ISO is certainly not enough to save Solms.

[jtk]

Interesting that Fuji and Kodak should be mentioned here. It's their 4/3 format (larger versions of the tiny chip they sell to Oly) that may control the future of high-end digital photography.

 

Leicas have not increased in value with inflation. They've LAGGED inflation by comparison to almost anything else of lasting value.

 

They've not been as valuable as investments as, say, good guitars. A 1956 Martin D28 might be worth $15,000 today, Vs a new price that was about the same as a IIIG was in the same year.

[john_shriver]

New high speed slide films? For what market? What sort of return on investment would one expect for something that is maybe 3% of the consumer film market? The professional studio market that buys EPN, EPP, and E100G has no use for it. Low light commercial field work is digital these days. Neither Kodak or Fuji are charitable organizations.

 

The money that is still being invested in film design is mostly going into C-41 film, and movie stocks. OK, Fuji did do the new Velvia 100.

[stephen_w.]

"They've not been as valuable as investments as, say, good guitars. A 1956 Martin D28 might be worth $15,000 today, Vs a new price that was about the same as a IIIG was in the same year."

 

How much would the $700 I paid for a black paint M4 in 1989 fetch now? I know it's anecdotal, but have you priced used MF and film SLRs recently?

 

My cameras are not investments, they're toys...oops...tools.