Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/06/16

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Subject: [Leica] Why Leica is opening up so many stores
From: douglasnygren at yahoo.com (Douglas Nygren)
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:54:35 -0700 (PDT)

Leica thinks it can be like Apple and have stand alone stores.
Maybe it can, but they Leica isn't Apple. Apple had a big followingbefore it 
started to run its own stores.
While Leica may have lost dealers, it's hard to imagine a dealer?buying into 
the Leica system. What does that cost, half a million?Is there that much 
profit in new cameras? No. The win is in sellingused Leica gear.Dealers 
traditionally carry a broader range of product than just one line.In New 
York, a dealer may be able to make it with one line of cameras,namely Leica. 
But can a dealer in Cincinnati make it that way?
Given the giant leap in Leica prices, how many of us are going to buy?new 
Leica gear? That means Leica is going to have to develop a newmarket--one 
beyond the collectors who have one of everything Leica foreach of their 
homes.?
People like us, I assume, will be lured away by camera manufacturerswho 
produce a great product in range finder form. Think Fuji. Think the xpro 2.
As I've written here before, as Leica increaes its prices, it opens itself 
up to?be undersold: Fuji, Olympus, Sony come to mind.?
Then again, maybe Leica isn't thinking long-term. Maybe it's just thinking 
American, which is to say short-term. Drive up the prices, increase profit 
margins, look good on paper, make an IOP killings and cash in.?
Leica might reply: howwash. We sell everything we make in a bad economy. 
Think what it will be like, wenn alles wieder in Butter ist, when everything 
is good again. They may have a point.
I'd feel better about their future if lurking in the wings was an autofocus 
M with movie capability. Who know, maybe there is. Who knows, maybe they 
will introduce a mini M to sell to consumers the way Canon and Nikon does. 
They may have "miracle" products in the pipeline, but given their history of 
trailing the market, this may be more than a fantasy.
For me, Leica is bcoming less interesting while Fuji is becoming more 
interesting. The new Nikon catches my eye as does the Canon 5D Mark III with 
its high ISOs and silent mode. As it is, the M9 sounds noisy to me like the 
SLRs of yore.?
It just seems to me Leica is no longer looking to photographers to buy its 
product. It is becoming a fashion statement. Pity is how many fashionistas 
will appreciate what fine glass they posses.?
MFG-Doug


Replies: Reply from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] Why Leica is opening up so many stores)