M lens price will decrease soon?

[Nuit]

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have anyone heard about the news of M lens will increase soon or probably next month? I am looking for M 35 fle but still can't find the new one. If the price will increase soon, then a must looking for the used one instead the new one.

 

Regards

[treeplanter]

I haven't heard about a price increase, but it wouldn't surprise me if one was coming. Generally, Leica prices always go up, not down.

 

But, Leica has also announced that they will be increasing lens production. This action should help alleviate some of the lens shortages which have been so widespread since the release of the M9.

 

Jim B.

[Holybasil]

I read on Leica Rumors that due to their increased sales in their last quarter they'll add a price increase.

Bloody ridiculous if you ask me, but Leica has never been logical.

[luigi bertolotti]

I wonder if the TITLE you gave to the thread is an error or a joke...

[bbbonthemoon]

If they meet their target to increase x4 lens production by 2012, I believe used market price will DECREASE And we should finally see used lenses sell with 15-20% discount from new.

[Peter H]

I read on Leica Rumors that due to their increased sales in their last quarter they'll add a price increase.

Bloody ridiculous if you ask me, but Leica has never been logical.

 

Increased sales is the best evidence of strong demand. Strong demand is the best commercial justification for higher prices.

 

As consumers, we may not like it, but the logic is perfect.

[Ecaton]

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Increased sales is the best evidence of strong demand. Strong demand is the best commercial justification for higher prices.

 

As consumers, we may not like it, but the logic is perfect.

 

Lens prices won't go up relative to real assets, but only expressed in confetti currencies such as the USD and Euro. Courtesy to competent governments and political classes on either side of the pond.

[jaapv]

Yes, one should buy in a nice stable currency like the ZimDollar...

[rosuna]

Increased sales is the best evidence of strong demand. Strong demand is the best commercial justification for higher prices.

 

As consumers, we may not like it, but the logic is perfect.

 

Well, elasticity of demand and higher production costs are the only justification for higher prices (if you want to maximize profits or even preserve margins).

 

The problem with Leica is that the demand elasticity is very rigid, due to product differentiation. One of the reasons for that strong differentiation is the brand itself. The other one is the positioning of Leica products (they are designed to be different).

 

This situation reminds me that of Apple products during the second half of the 80s and first half of the 90s. In the long term it may be dangerous for the company: entry barriers and differentiation factors are not eternal, and you have to be competitive also in prices. Competition is dynamic and you have to move forward!

 

Higher costs probably come from the development of a larger distribution and support worldwide network (Asia, I suppose).

 

They have to increase the scale of production in order to make profitable the scale of distribution, to reduce the costs per unit and to pay for the fixed costs and recent investments (development, new plants, etc.).

 

I would like to see a more moderate evolution in prices in the near future: more or less stable for the lenses and decreasing (compared to the current prices) for the bodies. But... I don't expect so...

[Peter H]

...........

 

The problem with Leica is that the demand elasticity is very rigid, due to product differentiation. One of the reasons for that strong differentiation is the brand itself. The other one is the positioning of Leica products (they are designed to be different).

 

..............

 

This assumes a less knowledgeable and adaptable market than I believe exists.

 

Look how demand soared in response to the introduction of the M9. And price rises are largely a response to this.

 

And also, I think that comparisons between Apple and Leica can be very misleading.

[ho_co]

For those who see Leica as an investment, it's important that prices rise.

 

Remember, Leica is replacing some older lens designs (e.g. 24/2.8, 21/2.8) with newer, slower, less expensive versions. So these new lenses amount to a price reduction of sorts.

 

Considering both of those points and the fact that Leica has always raised prices once or twice a year, it's always true to say: If you want it, buy it now, because it will go up.

[adan]

See: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/198408-leica-china.html

 

Leica has simply noticed that in some markets, people are willing to pay a (sometimes much) higher price for their products than Leica has been asking.

 

If you were selling prints, and discovered that your customers were turning around and re-selling them at a higher price - wouldn't you raise your own prices to reflect the market value, and get some of that extra money for yourself?

 

If new lens production increases and begins meeting demand, I expect the first thing that will happen is a stabilizing of used lens prices (especially previous-generation non-APO/ASPH lenses). Many new users have bought ANY M lens available (at any price) during the shortage, and will begin trading up to the newest and best once they can be obtained. Putting their original purchases back into the used lens supply.

 

It has been interesting to watch the listings of a couple of the used lens dealers, KEH and Tamarkin, over the past couple of years.

 

Within a few months of the M9 intro, KEH's listings had dropped from 70 or more lenses to under 20. Today that was bounced back to nearly 70 again, as the jump in value (and presumably the prices KEH will pay) has induced owners to sell.

 

Tamarkin, OTOH, has a shrivelled inventory right now - either they are selling everything they can get their hands on, or are having trouble finding additional used lenses to re-stock with.

 

Eventually things will stabilize. But the BRIC countries add up to a huge pool of new money looking for toys to buy - and global economics remain in an uproar (I'm still trying to figure out why - with a crummy dollar and our deficit mess - someone somewhere is so willing to buy US Gov't bonds that the interest rates decline at every auction!).

 

So it may take quite a few years for things to play out.

[kokoshawnuff]

This situation reminds me that of Apple products during the second half of the 80s and first half of the 90s.

 

And it brought them to the brink of bankruptcy in 1996, hopefully the Leica management is smart enough to avoid it...

[Ellie]

For those who see Leica as an investment, it's important that prices rise.

 

Remember, Leica is replacing some older lens designs (e.g. 24/2.8, 21/2.8) with newer, slower, less expensive versions. So these new lenses amount to a price reduction of sorts.

 

Considering both of those points and the fact that Leica has always raised prices once or twice a year, it's always true to say: If you want it, buy it now, because it will go up.

 

The local Leica reseller here put up a notice today about Elmarit-M 21/2,8 Asph Version2 coming around new year, it could be insider info not supposed to be made public though. Anyone heard more about this?

[ho_co]

News to me. Nice to hear.

 

 

Drat! Another theory down the tubes.

[menos I M6]

have anyone heard about the news of M lens will increase soon or probably next month? I am looking for M 35 fle but still can't find the new one. If the price will increase soon, then a must looking for the used one instead the new one.

 

Regards

 

Just place an order at an official Leica store, pay a large part of the price upfront and I bet, you are granted with a quick delivery time + a price @ list of your date of sales contract.

Make sure the price as is now is included in your receipt, stating your partly payment.

[rosuna]

 

Look how demand soared in response to the introduction of the M9. And price rises are largely a response to this.

 

And also, I think that comparisons between Apple and Leica can be very misleading.

 

Prices are soaring from many years ago. Compare the list prices of ten, five or two years ago with the current list. That trend in Leica is independent of the evolution of demand. There is a cost component (higher fixed costs per unit when the demand collapses, and the same when the scale is increased in response to an expected higher and sustained demand), but the key factor is the rigidness of the demand itself.

 

The sales success of the M9 came as a surprise, and the price of the camera has not changed (in spite of the strong demand) whereas those of the lenses were increasing before the M9, during the M9 lifetime and probably after the M9's life comes to an end.

 

I don't see how "strong demand" explains all that.

[rosuna]

And it brought them to the brink of bankruptcy in 1996, hopefully the Leica management is smart enough to avoid it...

 

Higher prices applied on a rigid demand (non responsible to price increases) will increase the income itself. Apple was squeezing to the limit a (decreasing) portion of the market. The only thing that allowed them to do that for a while was the strong product differentiation (there was no alternative in the design, publishing, etc. markets). When the competition appeared the company collapsed really fast.

 

Leica has to be moderately innovative and keep prices under control.

[bocaburger]

I'm not an economist. Hearing the subject discussed in social gatherings bores me as much as most people are bored if I discuss the technical points of photography. All I know is that after forty years of buying Leicas, and despite not having suffered any kind of serious financial reversals, I can no longer afford new Leica lenses, and rapidly becoming less able to afford the used ones. That says to me that Leica has taken their sights off the market I'm in and set them toward a wealthier target. I don't blame them. What company wouldn't want to take advantage of the burgeoning wealth of the BRIC countries? Why should Leica leave money on the table just to hang on to guys like me?

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[pico]

And it brought them to the brink of bankruptcy in 1996, hopefully the Leica management is smart enough to avoid it...

 

Apple developed an irrational, unfocused product line that confused their image. They also had some serious quality problems, one in particular was a batch of bad Western Digital hard drives - they had a lubricated main bearing that would stick. I had a IIfx, the most expensive Mac to date (about $11,000 in 1990) and internally (which is all that counts here) it was a horror story of adaptations and required special software to take advantage of its full potential. Very few developers cared to go to that platform)

 

It was like the Leica SLR of the computer world.

 

Jobs brought back focus by basing products upon a tight family of platforms.