Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/31
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 11:07 AM 1/31/98 EST, Tom Shea wrote: >You are out of touch with today's reality. In many areas, the Japanese >produce goods with unsurpassed quality. I would appreciate your refraining from personal attacks. We are not speaking of the quality of Japanese products: we are speaking of the engineering parameters to which the products are built. The Japanese have a much more lucid understanding of market conditions than has been displayed by American or European concerns for the most part. Thus, the Japanese first determine the price point, then determine what it will cost to produce the item, then establish the engineering standards to which the item will be built. The Germans, on the other hand, tend to work through the process in reverse. Hence, the Germans produce excruciatingly priced items of superb quality, the Japanese, by and large, produce items of excellent quality at a much lower price. Obviously, as with any generalization, there are specific exceptions. And the Japanese COULD produce a lens of the quality of, say, the 15mm Super-Elmarit but, to do so, they would have to charge as much as does Leica. There simply is no evading the realities of the marketplace. You might wish to discuss this with some of those involved in this process, such as Blake Zeigler from Kyocera USA or Alan Nomano, the "father" of the Contax SLR system. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!