[Leica] Leica's manufacturing

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

Mark wrote:
I love it how we're sitting back and second guessing the whole Leica
manufacturing process like we're all experts or something.
It's not like "the rewind crank on the M4 is a little stiff" or 
something.
Lets not forget at that Leica at this point in its long existence is in 
the
hands of  Dr. Andreas Kaufmann a guy who owns a handful of successful
optical companies. Leica being one card in the hand he's holding.
What went into the way the manufacturing structure of Leica Digital M's 
has
evolved we know not what. I'm somehow included to give these people the
benefit of the doubt.
- - - - - - -
Mark,
You obviously have more faith in the judgment of industry leaders than 
I do.

    Perkin-Elmer, the most respected optical company in the US, ground 
the mirror of the Hubble Telescope wrong. RCA, the world's premier 
television manufacturer after WW2 and holder of most US color 
television patents, is out of business. The trademark is now owned by 
Thompson SA, a French conglomerate. Microsoft, the world's richest 
computer company has seen its stock fall by 60% on the heels of the 
Vista debacle. General Motors, once the maker of 63% of cars sold in 
the US, now has a market share of 17% and was saved from bankruptcy by 
the kindness of US taxpayers. And there is no need to mention Lehman 
Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, and all the other financial high 
flyers that could do no wrong.  Big, respected companies DO screw up, 
make bad decisions, fail to deliver up to expectations and drop from 
favor.
    In the 1960's Leica was the dominant expensive camera maker. In 1963 
Leica sold more cameras priced over $300 (equivalent to about $3500 
today) than the combined total of all competitive makers. But by astute 
decisions like ignoring the SLR phenomenon, failing to upgrade their 
cash cow M cameras, and making cameras in high labor wage markets, 
dissipated their lead. Today Leica's market share of expensive cameras 
must be viewed with a microscope to be visible.
    I have no faith that Leica's product design or manufacturing 
policies are optimum, no matter how rich Dr. Andreas Kaufmann is. Nor 
am I happy that they are willing to dissemble to hide engineering 
ineptness. Remember that just a year ago it was impossible to make full 
frame digital Leicas and that magenta blacks were an illusion. Good 
people can make bad decisions. Witness Bill Gates downplaying the 
importance of the internet or signing off on Vista. The brief video 
view of Leica's assembly process is hardly a confidence builder.
   Larry Z