Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/06/29

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Subject: Historic change for Leica?
From: captyng@vtx.ch (Gerard Captijn)
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 09:52:46 +0200

>As all of us were already aware of, Leica made most of its revenues up to
>now from the sales of its M equipment. The R reflex series have always been
>considered a bit as something that just had to be done because everybody
>else (i.e. Japanese manufacturers) was doing so. The previous R models up
>and including the R7 are good cameras on their own, but always came late
>compared with the competition. New technical developments have always been
>available for years in Japanese cameras before they became mainstream Leica
>R.
>All this appears to be finally changing with the advent of the R8. For the
>first time Leica has a camera that equals the best Japanese ones, and
>actually surpasses them in some ways (e.g. built-in flashmeter).
>
>This had had an impact on Leica's sales. Demand for the R8 is so strong
>(well, at least to Leica-standards!), that the factory in Solms can not
>follow the orders.
>
>According to well-informed sources, it appears that for the first time in
>history, the Leica reflex sales will equal and maybe exceed the rangefinder
>sales both in volume as in profit. This could mean that in future more
>attention will be given to the R series (including lenses) than previously
>was the case.

Hi Pascal,

The sales of Leica's M-system productline were as follows:

in thousands of DM                1993/94  1994/95   1995/96
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany                                   19,307    22,574    17,942

Other European countries        15,730    22,714    20,865
Asia, Australia                          11,522    18,172    23,576
United States                              9,061,     6,835      6,720
Others                                         1,594         534         903
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                         57,214     70,829    70,006
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sales of Leica's R-system productline were as follows:

in thousands of DM                1993/94  1994/95   1995/96
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany                                   24,293    21,069    17,492

Other European countries        11,058    11,092      9,892
Asia, Australia                          10,404      8,244    10,954
United States                              4,103      3,910      3,596
Others                                         2,626         523         884
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                         52,484     44,838    42,818
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess that the conclusions are:
1. The R-system line has been losing steam over the last years and something
had to be done about it. The answer, the new R8, is on the market now.
2. The M-system is Leica's key revenue producer.

I hope that the R sales keep booming and that the actual good sales are not
an introduction-related bubble. Leica is a niche market player who has
limited competition for its M products (Contax G2 only) but still many
competitors for its R products (Nikon FM2 and many other SLR's). They could
be better off to concentrate on where they are unique, i.e. the M-product
line. Marketing "wisdom" says that companies should concentrate on their own
strengths rather than on the strong points of the competition.

In terms of your question on what 80 - 100mm R lens to chose, my suggestion
would be to go for the 100mm APO Macro-Elmarit-R. Exeptional image quality
at all distances. A cheaper solution could be to buy a discontinued
90mmf/2,8 Elmarit (with a discount), one of the finest lenses in the R
range. There may be some left with the distributor or with dealers. No need
for a zoom: in many situations a couple of steps forward or backward has
(almost) the same effect!







Gerard Captijn,
Geneva, Switzerland.
Email: captyng@vtx.ch
Fax: +41 (22) 700 39 28







































































































































Gerard Captijn
Geneva, Switzerland
Email: captyng@vtx.ch
Telephone/fax: +41 22 700 39 28