Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/01/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> I think Hasselblad is being a lot smarter about the future than Leica > and if they don't do something soon they are going to be finished. But > I would also bet that at that point ,they get bought by a big Japanese > firm... Hasselblad is as far, or further, down the road of financial problems than Leica. It's hard to guess who will go down first, Leica or Hasselblad. Leica has already started taking some of the same measures: stopping production, for example. But Hasselblad has gotten a raw deal. The company was bought up (by the Swiss) in the 90's. At that time Hasselblad had an advanced R&D group working on digital. The new owners said "No. Stick to film." and dismantled all R&D. Yet new owners (Honk Kong) have now decided digital it the thing. Day late and a dollar short. So in Hasselblad's case it wasn't management so much as greedy capital that ruined them. Same process is going on with Kodak, Ilford, but not Agfa (as much). "Forget new products, new directions, milk the cow you have as long as you can and then liquidate." Leica's cow is people with too much money in their pocket. Leica's business idea is to lighten their load. Photography doesn't have anything to do with it. There's nothing a new Leica can do that my M2 can't do. Nothing. You push the shutter and it takes a picture. I like that. Thank-you Leica. We're both old fogies, Leica with their technology and film users. Our days are numbered. Soon some of us relics will be figuring in glossy b/w magazines for fine art. Most of us won't. Daniel