"Leica has named Andreas Voll, a 44-year-old with 15 years of management experience at a luxury Swiss watch company, as its new chief executive, as the German camera manufacturer targets further growth as an upmarket tech brand.
Voll is set take the helm on April 1, succeeding Matthias Harsch, who led the company since 2017 and whose contract expires at the end of March, Leica announced on Sunday."
Not surprising. The growth is in the luxury market as wealthy customers grow their spending much faster than any other segment. I have a few Leica cameras and lenses—love them—but I don’t think I’ll be able to buy one in the future. My kit will have to outlast my lifetime!
Fred Miranda wrote:
As a joke, I imagined the new Leica boss opening his first speech by saying: "Alright everyone… let's double the price of these puppies!"
Ha! Do you have a hard line on how much you'd pay for a theoretical M12? I reckon that's hard to say without knowing the exact specs, but I figured I'd ask.
I know a lot of Leica shooters who aren't loaded and I wonder what that line is for them...
RomanMF wrote:
Ha! Do you have a hard line on how much you'd pay for a theoretical M12? I reckon that's hard to say without knowing the exact specs, but I figured I'd ask.
I know a lot of Leica shooters who aren't loaded and I wonder what that line is for them...
Some might be facing having to be happy with what they already own, me included
burningheart wrote:
Additional Leica watch product lines are on the way.
I recently had the opportunity to try and assemble a Leica watch movement with the head of the watch unit and one of the matchmaker. You have to respect the engineering and manufacturing that go into these kinds of things. I am not a likely buyer however.
Erich6_ wrote:
Not surprising. The growth is in the luxury market as wealthy customers grow their spending much faster than any other segment. I have a few Leica cameras and lenses—love them—but I don’t think I’ll be able to buy one in the future. My kit will have to outlast my lifetime!
It has actually always surprised me that the photography market doesn’t have any products only the uber-wealthy can afford. PhaseOne is at the top, but even that is pocket change for people who have money to burn. In the car world, there’s still a vast offering of goodies worth millions above your run-of-the-mill Ferrari.
RomanMF wrote:
Ha! Do you have a hard line on how much you'd pay for a theoretical M12? I reckon that's hard to say without knowing the exact specs, but I figured I'd ask.
I know a lot of Leica shooters who aren't loaded and I wonder what that line is for them...
I’ve never bought a Leica new and I don’t think I’ll ever will. Even then, I paid more for my M11 than for any other camera. But it’s by far not my best camera. It’s just unique. That’s a value proposition, but a pretty narrow one.
I wish him the best.
It indicates an emphasis on marketing... There are differences to the watch market but he probably knows the global "businessmen over 40" buyer.
He has a tough job, but he inherits a solid product line.
There will always be people out there who won't shy back of spending $15K for a new Leica M camera. I don't think Leica has reached a ceiling cap yet to stop raising prices. They have already given up on the entry level market years ago by removing the more affordable Summarit lenses, M-E, and cropped sensor camera lines. It continues to be all to satisfy the upper price segment.
The used Leica gear market will also see an upwards trend in pricing for sure. But this will remain the only option for regular users to especially buy into Leica M gear.
taildraggin wrote:
I wish him the best.
It indicates an emphasis on marketing... There are differences to the watch market but he probably knows the global "businessmen over 40" buyer.
He has a tough job, but he inherits a solid product line.
It would be interesting to see how 'investment class' Leica collectable lenses have done over time - has the reissue of lenses such as the 50/1.2 Noctilux and Steel Rim Summilux collapsed demand and hammer prices for the originals ( not to mention the effect of LLL ).
On the watch front I never understood what Leica brought to the game - a german tool watch from Stowa, Laco or Sinn seems far more practical, and avoids the marketing hype inflated prices of Rolex ... without getting near the ultra luxury end.
