jose_merino Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 maybe it's a good idea to send all our management recommendations to the bankruptcy court so they take it easy on unsecured creditors, namely Leica warranty holders.. :) ------------------8 things i would do: get rid of any overhead supporting the R8, R9 get rid of all special edition M'slose the compact film line (CM zooms etc..)phase out the a la carte program, what a marketing gimmickfocus on the digilux linefocus on a digital srl, the current R digital module is just cumbersome in my opinion, too mach money for the benefitcontinue focusing on optics, develop AE for M lenses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_david Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I'd make lenses for Canon and Nikon bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monochrome11 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 1. swallow my pride and give Mr. Kobayashi a call and ask for help in saving Leica M mount cameras/lens 2. strength the partnership with Panasonic and using the 4/3 sensor produce a Digilux3/LC2 with a large RAW buffer and improved lens ring 'feel' - LC1 to my hands needs more positive feedback... it's currently to vague.. 3.??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travis1 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 skip chapter 11 and go to chapter 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
really__ Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Downsize everybody but Werner and Klaus, and set them up in a beautiful workshop. Have them repair existing Leicas until the parts run out; and sell even more expensive ala-carte editions. Milk the brand by licensing its name only to Panasonic's digital lenses. But don't dilute it any further. Drop the digitals, compacts, and SLRs once the inventory is depleted. In other words, obtain maximum profit with the least overhead. Leica's sweet spot is having a handful of German perfectionists making the best 35mm cameras in the world. Most of these other suggestions are only wistful thinking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin m. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 LOL, Travis. Maybe he should just skip to the back and see how this book ends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike dixon Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 . . . I'd start looking for a more-secure job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirk_teetzel Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Lower prices / add incentives or deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilan_g Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 HP's CEO post is up for grabs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
websterforrest Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I'd sell the rights and all manufacturing equipment and staff for the R-series, and contact my lens manufacturers, have them design a time machine using Einstein's theory about light and time travel and all that, and then catapult myself back to 1953, enjoy the moment of M, then catapult myself forwards in time to when they introduced the R, kill the people who wanted to develop it, and invest all the money they poured into it into Microsoft - or should it be Apple? Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipling Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Drop the R line. Buy a D70, take it apart, find out what makes it work, simplify it, put it in a new, much less expensive M body (it only has to hold up 2-3 years max.), produce it in Thailand and then bring out some fast super wide M lenses. <p> Shoot anyone in the company who says the words "heritage", "tradition" or "glow". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_chan4 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Leica's "magic moment" has indeed arrived. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben z Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 " Subject: "If I were Leica's CEO..." - just for fun " It doesn't sound too much like fun to be Leica's CEO right about now. In fact I'll bet Hans-Peter Cohn is counting his lucky stars he's out of there and won't be known as the one who was at the helm when the good ship Leica sank. Quite honestly I will be surprised if it isn't these announcements and the internet-fueled panic that'll kill Leica even before they can reshuffle their financing. Surely a percentage of new Leica sales will be lost as a result of customers not wanting to get stuck with a product that might be unrepairable in the near future. Especially the DMR, R8/9 and M7 which nobody outside of Leica works on. Perhaps the same thing will happen that happened with Rolleiflex, a company will buy the tooling for the MP, and produce it in limited quantities for an outrageous price. Perhaps in conjunction with Franklin Mint, as a once-a-year commemorative. It seems to me that any and all of the other proposed "solutions" (making a digital M, making lenses in other mounts, etc.) all have two things in common: they will take time, they will take money. Neither of which Leica seems to have. I've alluded to it before but I'll state it outright: I don't believe Hermes or the other major investor in Leica were blindsided by this latest development, and certainly Hermes could bail Leica out themselves if they wanted to. There is some plan afoot here, and eventually it will play out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hire Al and Grant as co-CEO's and stand behind them .... waaaaay behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_fromm2 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 If I were Leica's CEO, I'd apologize and disembowel myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h.d._shin Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Built a time machine (built of course to Leica standards, without any of those silly bells and whistles) for another chance at the past 15/20 years. And while you're redirecting investment strategy, please build a couple Leica Hexar AFs priced around $1200, one with a 35 mm lens and the other with a 70-80 lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_fang Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 <i>If I were Leica's CEO, I'd apologize and disembowel myself.</i> <p>LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Wait 4-6 months to see what happens. The new CEO had to know what he was getting into. This ostrich still thinks it`ll be ok. I`ll have $250,000 of collectables or $10,000 in garbage. Wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerry_szarek Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The M7 can fixed like any other M, the mechanical parts can by made by reverse engineering a working one, the electronics can be reengineered (I am sure Leica didn't make custom cmos chips) for a few dollars. I agree about the R line however dump it or at least don't develope anything new for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob F. Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Get rid of the MP. Return the M6 to production, with the MP finder, keeping the price under $1800. Wipe that awful <b>M7</b> off the front of the M7. Drop the M7 price under $2000. Support the R line with lenses, even if the bodies don't stay in production. I'd like to see another mechanical R, though. Make a dedicated digital R for a decent price. Make a digital M, under $2400. Drop the a la carte. It's too expensive. Maybe offer a couple of finish variations on the M, like choice of black chrome or a durable black paint, not designed to fall off. Emphasize photographic excellence, not prestige/cosmetics. Consider letting Kyocera make more of the Leica lenses, to contain the cost, just like Zeiss does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben z Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 "I`ll have $250,000 of collectables or $10,000 in garbage." Ronald, which one will it be if Leica goes under and which if they survive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan flanders Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Sell th whole nine yards to Zeiss for enought to bail out the stock holders, with the proviso that the Leica name be kept in circulation for a top line of cameras with Contax for another top quality entry level line. Continue the R lenses with adapters for Nikon, Contax, etc. <p> That would restore Zeiss's production capacity that they lost when they crashed back in the 70's. Zeiss's management combined with theirs and Leicas lens technology would be unbeatable. Outsource bodies and assembly to Portugal but keep Lenses in Germany. Leave it to Zeiss to decide digital future. <P> OTOH, What a lot of horsefeathers! What has happened is what was going to happen. What happens at any one instant in time is the resultant of all the compomonent forces in opration at that time. You can't change them after the fact. If you could change one, it would affect the effects of all. As the linebacker told the running back in "Semi Tough", "WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, DID!". <p> So, as far as Leica is concerned, WHAT CAN HAPPEN, WILL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan flanders Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Sell the whole nine yards to Zeiss for enought to bail out the stock holders, with the proviso that the Leica name be kept in circulation for a top line of cameras with Contax for another top quality entry level line. Continue the R lenses with adapters for Nikon, Contax, etc. <p> That would restore Zeiss's production capacity that they lost when they crashed back in the 70's. Zeiss's management combined with theirs and Leicas lens technology would be unbeatable. Outsource bodies and assembly to Portugal but keep Lenses in Germany. Leave it to Zeiss to decide digital future. <P> OTOH, What a lot of horsefeathers! What has happened is what was going to happen. What happens at any one instant in time is the resultant of all the compomonent forces in opration at that time. You can't change them after the fact. If you could change one, it would affect the effects of all. As the linebacker told the running back in "Semi Tough", "WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, DID!". <p> So, as far as Leica is concerned, WHAT CAN HAPPEN, WILL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw_finney Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Hire me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatkins Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Ship all production and assembly to China, lower prices by a factor of 4 and hope there are enough Leica fanatics out there to keep buying cameras just because they have "Leica" stamped on them. If China can't handle the optics part, try the Ukraine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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