[Leica] Re: The "demise" of xyz camera

[Thinkofcole at aol.com (Thinkofcole@aol.com)]

    Lately I have seen comments on the Leica sites of the "demise" of Contax 
and  Kyocera, with no evidence that this "demise" talk is accurate. 
    I have no interest in these companies but in the interest of accuracy I 
checked the latest annual financial report of Kyocera, the parent company, and 
find that Kyocera has several businesses, only one of which is photography. 
The report notes that while Kyocera's sales of traditional cameras are down and 
expenses on its digital cameras are up and both circumstances have resulted in 
a decline in the photography part of Kyocera's business, the overall profits 
of Kyocera are stronger than the year before. 
   Moreover, Kyocera's shares are traded in the United States as so-called 
ADR's {american depositary receipts} and are currently regarded as a "hold," 
meaning that advisers who follow the stock for investors suggest that anyone who 
owns Kyocera shares should just continue to hold them [ rather than sell them 
or buy more].
  As far as I'm concerned, until I see authoritative evidence to the 
contrary, Kyocera, Contax and Yashica, another Kyocera product, seem to be as strong 
as ever.--bob cole