[Leica] PESO: RG Lewis and Leica M frustrations

[Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie)]

Spot on Mark. The idea that Leica has -suddenly- become a "boutique" brand, 
labelled thus to insult it, is wrong. Lots of people have believed that for 
decades, and lots of users have always felt the results justified the price.

Personally, I think the prices, here in the UK,  are reasonable for the 
small production volume and high quality.
It seems they can charge far more in certain aspirational and growing 
markets so it makes sound business sense to supply them first, both from a 
market growth and a margin perspective.
In Europe there is a dwindling market, not least due to a steady decline in 
prosperity (which I see no sign of changing, personally).
In the USA people are very price sensitive - suppliers generally sell at the 
lowest prices in the USA to get business. I haven't looked lately but I was 
certainly surprised to see that a Porsche was cheaper in California than 
Stuttgart and a Nikon cheaper in New York than Tokyo.
Why wouldn't Leica supply their most enthusiastic market first and the 
wingeing cheapskates later ;-)