Leica fiscal results for 2000/2001

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Leica just posted the results for its 2000/2001 fiscal year: http://www.leica-camera.com/unternehmen/presse/data/02211/index_e.html

Basically it's a pretty good report. The compact cameras are doing very well, M line is doing well. As expected by previous reports, the big losers are the R line and the projectors. Let's hope the new R products planned for release will be successfull.

Xavier

-- Xavier Colmant (xcolmant@powerir.com), July 19, 2001

Answers

Yes, this is encouraging. The R6.2 discontinuation can be seen as a way to reduce costs on the R-line without impairing (in theory) the sales of the lenses. No mention of an R6.2 replacement. I suggest you buy your R6.2 now as it will be sure to be sought after when no longer available! They are probably right to pinpoint the influence of digital photography as one reason why many SLR conventional cameras are somewhat under threat. For the Leica M line these considerations are not really relevant - the r/f crowd being cut from different cloth - the Leica being both completely "cool" and completely "uncool" at the same time, depending on who looks at it.

Interesting how well the compact cameras seem to do for the company.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), July 20, 2001.


Everyone's seen the R8 by now, and there's lots of them out there used. The R6.2 is out of production without an immediate successor. No solid commitment from Leica about a digital R. Perhaps a new lens might sell well to existing R owners, but that isn't what's needed to sustain the entire line. Slide projectors (analog) are headed for extinction. The sustaining market for them, the educational and corporate A/V market, is headed straight for digital presentation. The home users who like to put on slide shows for their friends and family just can't buy enough to keep them alive, and they are a once- in-30-years purchase.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), July 20, 2001.

M line growth at 16.2%.

The standout winner is Leica compact and Minox products, 29.4% growth. ". Half of this sales growth of € 16.8 million was generated by the compact cameras and Minox product lines, which are largely contractor- manufactured in the Far East. With a 29.4% increase to € 36.9 million they grew at an overproportionate rate"

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 21, 2001.


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