sdai Posted February 22, 2008 Share #41 Posted February 22, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) Nothing is going to get scraped. Dr. Kaufman owns the company and he is very much behind all the decisions anyway going forward. If anything this maybe a good thing for the end user. I absolutely hope so, Guy. Nobody should know if Lee's strategy is better for the company than Dr. Kauffman does ... if there're mis-steps in the past, then they should by all means correct it. My hope is that price hike is proven wrong ... let them bring it down to year 1999 levels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 22, 2008 Posted February 22, 2008 Hi sdai, Take a look here Steven K.Lee gone. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
sandymc Posted February 22, 2008 Share #42 Posted February 22, 2008 The only other thing this email says it that "leica is facing now again tough times because Mr. Lee had a blind eye towards the development of new products, especially the small digital 'Panasonic-Leicas.' Hmm, well, from a dealer perspective, I can understand that - wider range of products is better, and they make money regardless of who manufactured the camera. From a Leica perspective, I doubt that they were making much on the Panasonics - their ability to charge high prices was limited by the obvious comparison with Panasonic prices, and very limited ability to sell additional lenses, whereas the M8 they have far more freedom, and the knock-on into expensive lens sales. Interesting. Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 22, 2008 Share #43 Posted February 22, 2008 People, it's the Leica moniker saving Panasonic's disastrous venture into digital camera business, otherwise, who would buy those crappy cameras? I bought one this lunchtime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddp Posted February 22, 2008 Share #44 Posted February 22, 2008 I think the idea was that he would 'kick some butt' - don't forget that this was a company making Hermes special editions just a couple year's ago - and as far as I could tell, he was doing an okay job. True….but I can’t help but wonder if the thought alone of an American from a mass market consumer electronics chain rankled more than a few feathers over there. There’s no question Leica needed to get into the game of higher end digital products and away from the boutique view it had carried. There are still plenty of people out there that view Leica stuff in the same vein as high end audio stuff…. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 22, 2008 Share #45 Posted February 22, 2008 I bought one this lunchtime. Just to take a picture of your lunch? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolo Posted February 22, 2008 Share #46 Posted February 22, 2008 I personally saw it as a strange fit from the beginning.... Presumably, the strategy had the full support of the Board of Management and they saw Mr Lee as being the right man to take the company into the new era of profit. Surely, he wasn't brought in to protect the old Leica image and the traditional quality standards? Volumes seem to be soaring, profits are up, customers want better product, dealers want turnover and shareholders just want a return. Perhaps Mr Lee couldn't change Leica fast enough into a 'two for the price of one' company that the owners want. As for the 2008 Product Plan, that'll be in concrete unless the BoM takes something away that they have already agreed to and funded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cordell Posted February 22, 2008 Share #47 Posted February 22, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I don't want to speculate recklessly because I have no internal knowledge nor does anyone else here. I will admit now, that it surprised me very much that Dr. Kaufmann hired an American, and an Asian-American to boot, to run a small-town German company. I don't mean to imply that all Germans are nationalistic and racist. Neither are all Americans but coming from a small-town in the mid-south region of the USA, a guy like Lee would run into some friction being the boss, as shameful and unfortunate as that is. As for how this will impact the company, time will tell. A lot will depend on who Dr. Kaufmann hires to fill Lee's shoes...unless he's planning to do it himself. One thing is clear to me, and that is that it would be in Leica's best interest if this time Leica plays a vocal role in quashing internet rumors and negative speculation, unlike the way they've handled them in the recent past. I think we loyal customers deserve to be kept in the loop, and not third-party through some volunteer beta tester with a bad temper. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 22, 2008 Share #48 Posted February 22, 2008 Just to take a picture of your lunch? It's a gift for my son, if you must know. Not everyone wants or needs a £3000 camera, and I do find it slightly irritating that you should question my intelligence for doing so. It would be very interesting to know how much Leica earn through their relationship with Panasonic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted February 22, 2008 Share #49 Posted February 22, 2008 You don't have to agree to my reasoning, but You should at least not question my motives. I believe all he wanted to say is that this isn’t a very good reason not to buy an M8. And the odds for an M9 this year are negligible anyway, let alone at a price comparable to that of the M8. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted February 22, 2008 Share #50 Posted February 22, 2008 Whether this is a reflection on the man at the top, Mr. Lee, or that the people working at Leica AG just didn't like working under him we the customers may never know. We should know. Journalists' work is to discover and publish the truth, isn't? I hope to read what has happened. Camera reviews and press releases are fine to read, but this information is far more important. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym911 Posted February 22, 2008 Share #51 Posted February 22, 2008 Presumably, the strategy had the full support of the Board of Management and they saw Mr Lee as being the right man to take the company into the new era of profit. Surely, he wasn't brought in to protect the old Leica image and the traditional quality standards? . I agree with this completely. But as always most CEO's don't get fired due to bad strategy, but rather due to poor execution.. I think most of uscan at least acknowledge that execution has been pretty poor, particularly regarding M8. Also the somewhat unique "perpetual upgrade" initiative can't have helped things as someone mentioned earlier in the thread.A thinly veiled strategy of making the M8 a cash cow, after only one year, doesn't win many friends with dealers (the companies veins) or customers either. Anyway..moving on I assume the focus of Leica will be on the customer and regaining trust, brand loyalty and long term profitability instead of the short term view we have recently seen. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haribo Posted February 22, 2008 Share #52 Posted February 22, 2008 It would be appreciated if a bi-lingual member could keep us up-to-date with any developments in the similar thread running on the German side. (precis, obviously!) Thanks Just looked into it. Nothing new going on there other than the usual bickering. Someone apparently predicted the events a long time ago and got slaughtered for it. He's now enjoying his moment in the sun with the 'fullfilment of his prophecy' that the "primitive US-methods in an area of German engineering peak performances will lead to catastrophic consequences" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted February 22, 2008 Share #53 Posted February 22, 2008 I just want to know Kaufmans address , thought i would pass on my resume. ROTFLMAO I'll make sure we get a M9. :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 22, 2008 Share #54 Posted February 22, 2008 He's now enjoying his moment in the sun with the 'fullfilment of his prophecy' that the "primitive US-methods in an area of German engineer peak performances will lead to catastrophic consequences" Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdai Posted February 22, 2008 Share #55 Posted February 22, 2008 It would be very interesting to know how much Leica earn through their relationship with Panasonic. I have no numbers about this but let's see ... Leica has lent their trademark to Panasonic since ... when? and there's no significant change in their fundamentals ... while Panasonic got a boost in image and broke new ground in an additional line of business. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haribo Posted February 22, 2008 Share #56 Posted February 22, 2008 He's now enjoying his moment in the sun with the 'fullfilment of his prophecy' that the Thanks. Couldn't resist quoting the guy. It shows nicely the state of conversation (if I may say so) that's going on over on the German side of the forum. Precisely the reason why I don't visit there often Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted February 22, 2008 Share #57 Posted February 22, 2008 If anything this maybe a good thing for the end user. Why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted February 22, 2008 Share #58 Posted February 22, 2008 I have no numbers about this but let's see ... Leica has lent their trademark to Panasonic since ... when? and there's no significant change in their fundamentals ... while Panasonic got a boost in image and broke new ground in an additional line of business. I think this PanaLeica thing is a side issue frankly - apart from the 4/3 fiasco, I think the deal hasn't done Leica any harm whatsoever. The perpetual upgrade otoh must have rattled a lot of the dealers - and I wonder whether internally it was seen as a distraction from faster development of other products? I wonder if we'll ever know? But photokina just got more interesting... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym911 Posted February 22, 2008 Share #59 Posted February 22, 2008 One thing is 99.99999% sure. There won't be an M9 at the Photokina...And even if, it would cost at least 10.000 Euro. Jaap I think you are completely wrong here....on both points. As I have mentioned a few times, and only my opinion, there will be M9 at Photokina, it is a must. Will it be FF / Crop or only B&W etc.meaning its specification, that of course is up for discussion. Price tag .....(lets see what the Dollar does bfore speculating on that one.) Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 22, 2008 Share #60 Posted February 22, 2008 I'm with Jaap on this one. This is the R10 year, if Leica still have the stomach for it (wasn't the R10 one of Mr Lee's babies?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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