Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2015/08/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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 >