The German language interview is one of the most positive, and cagey, interviews I've read from Leica in a long time.
Certain is: the R cameras are not dead, just resting for a while - "Übererfüllen" is a good word to describe what's coming - something to exceed the users' expectations/wishes/needs.
2 million investment doesn't sound like much, so I reckon that's the in-house sum actually invested in Solms. I suspect that development is being/has already been almost completed elsewhere (outsourced to Panasonic?, and does anyone remember the Sinar episode - how about cost-effective joint venture instead of takeover? That could easily mean sensors larger than 'full frame' and tried technology to match). At the same time, Herr K. has been buying into ancillary precision engineering and technology concerns, and could be going for a technological platform with a much wider base than 'simple' camera and lens production that adds the Leica brand identity to other premium optical/engineering/electronic product lines to hedge the costs of Leica Camera.
To be quite honest, Herr K makes it very difficult to read anything between the lines, something that is not as clear in the translated version. Leica obviously does have various irons in the fire, but Herr K. is absolutely not prepared to give anything away until the finished products are sitting on his desk.
A compact digital CL is clearly an idea for a premium product at entry level. Herr K's statement at least says that there's a feasibility study or a market positioning analysis going on at present. Sensible man - analyse the market first and then think about realisation - in fact the tonality of the whole interview shows that he is a reasonably happy man and that the refound happiness of the employees in Solms is an important factor in the renaissance of Leica as a product/brand.
I personally see a trend in what he reveals: of course the brand image (which is in the process of being polished back to its old brilliance) is still Leica's greatest asset, the next step should be to rebuild brand awareness, recreate a USP for Leica (unique selling proposition) seen in his hints about a future R-series, anchor the Digital M in a sustainable market position (already begun with the 'perpetuation' upgrades), and open the market for lower price-bracket entry models with premium (ie Leica) characteristics.
I also expect Leica to come up with a brand new corporate design/corporate identity in the near future to show the market that they are no longer fuddy-duddy back-yard tinkerers, and that they want to come out and meet the world as a modern and innovative concern with a justifiable claim to premium quality. Their current corporate communication is about the biggest load of rubbish I've seen for many a year. Above all, they have no idea ( or a former manager had no idea) about how to address customer issues or cement customer/dealer loyalty, although the IR filters were a fast step in the right direction, they shouldn't have been necessary in the first place - an electronic notch or low-cut filter to take out (or switchable to pass) IR could have done the trick and made IR capability a new selling proposition.
All in all, the man appears to be heading in the right direction, and has an idea of what marketing AND making a profit is all about, something never before seen at Leica. We live in hope.
Cheers from Hannover Douglas Charlie Falke wrote:
William B. Abbott III wrote:Charlie,I don't know if is the same interview but here is a recent Kaufmann interview in German:http://www.handelsblatt.com/News/Unternehmen/Industrie/_pv/_p/200038/_t/ft/_b/1401563/default.aspx/leica-chef-80-prozent-der-sanierung-sind-geschafft.html BillBill, My German isn't that great, but for sure it's the same article, and with several things that I can understand they did take surprising liberties with the translation. I'm not confident I understand whathe says about the R line, though. I need to look at with a dictionary andmore awake. :-) -- Charlie Falke _____ /\ | __/\__/------/__) |(____\/_________/ "One test result is worth | |/ `o one thousand expert opinions" - Wernher Von Braun 0 N4003M "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein
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