Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/09/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Sep 19, 2007, at 4:02 PM, Philippe Orlent wrote: > I would wish that Leica had stayed out of the digital competition. > I think that it is one that they cannot win: they're too small (and > too late) vs. their competitors in that field to conquer a big market. I have no idea what goes on in the Leica board room; however, I doubt they ever think about "conquering" the Japanese giants. Moreover, I bet (small amount - I don't like gambling) that they can impact the equally small medium format market in terms of image quality. > The only thing I don't know is this: > Suppose that they would have concentrated on analog, and would have > become the true and only 35mm specialist of that field, in all > aspects. Would the niche that they would have created for > themselves (specialist, thus very expensive) be big enough to > survive? I doubt it. The big two have also had that market covered for quite some time. > Or is the chance of survival bigger when going the digital route: a > bigger market, but so much more competition? In terms of top end digital imaging. I don't think the market is all that big. All of these companies are staying afloat on huge quantities of low end consumer equipment. The true pro equipment (not pro-sumer) is extremely expensive and goes to a much smaller market base. > A competition that, by the way, was created by Leica itself: if > you're the best, and cannot be beaten in your field, you oblige > your competitors to become more creative. Canon, and now Nikon, > too, perfectly understood that. > > Fluxus, really. I just hope that Leica picked the right wave and > stays on it as long as possible. Me too. They're fun to watch as a company. Great tradition. And there equipment is a joy to use. Does anyone have any wonderful and entertaining stories about Canon or Nikon? Regards, George Lottermoser george@imagist.com