[quote=mhoersch;591000]Traditionally, Leica charged top prices for top quality lenses. I never understood the marketing idea of the new Summarits - Leica quality for much less money - because they inevitably run into a logical trap they set for themselves:
If the Summarits were really (almost) as good as the well known traditional Leica lenses - why should anyone looking for quality, not prestige, still buy the traditional lenses for three times the money?
If, on the other hand, the Summarits are not only much less expensive but also of noticably lower quality - why should anyone whom Leica expects to spend 4.800.- Euros on their digital body settle for a cheapo Summarit?
So, whatever way you look at it, Leica's marketing strategy for the Summarits damages sales - either of their old range of lenses or of the Summarits, or both - and it quite certainly does nothing to improve sales of the M8.
Quite predictable results, if you ask me...
1. Who tells you that Summarits are of lower quality? Do you own a
Summarit? And - do you shoot photos with a Summarit from time to time
?
2. Not the Summarit lens policy damages anything. It was the price
increase decision on the M8 body that came close to "cheating the customer".
How can they increase this drastically without offering a single added
value
?
It is true, however, that Leica is still a technology driven company with quiet a lousy
product management.
One striking example: Price Tri-Elmar 16-18-21 incl. wide angle view finder
end 2006 - € 3.500,-
end 2007 - € 4.495,-
So, completely wrong conclusion. Hopefully Leica has understood that the
camera-business, of which the M-series is the core line- will not survive, if Leica does
not open up for new target groups. If Mercedes had not launched C, B & A-Class many
years ago, this company would probably not exist anymore. Would anybody associate
with a C-class car bad quality, damages on the Mercedes brand image? Certainly
not.
Comments like yours do completely ignore that years ago Leica stood at the borderline of bankruptcy. Did you ever reflect why
?