Steven Lee fired

Well, that didn't last too long!

I'll wager it was about the M8 upgrade program. In any corporation the sales/marketing department is politically the most powerful. This M8 upgrade program pretty much leaves the dealers in the cold by allowing users to send their cameras directly for upgrade. And without the enticement of a new product, say an M9 the dealers are not happy so sales/marketing are not happy. And the Summarit line is not doing so well.

From what I see, neglect of the low end Panasonic-Leica cameras was also an issue. The M8 is a pretty low volume space to sustain a company

The Hassy CB lenses, et al ring a bell? The end of Leica Camera is near. SELL all but the collectible; but even the buyers for these will die off. I'm down to two bodies for film and two lenses, which will become desk jewelry/fondle fodder, remembering the 'good-ol'-days' in the near future.

Could there be a relationship between the number of unsold M8's in inventory and the awkward method of upgrading the M8? Just a speculation of course.

I doubted from the beginning that an American guy of Chinese descent would be enough accepted by the German villagers who make up the workforce and midlevel management of Leica that he would have any future. Especially one as Lee who has his background in the huge American corporate structure such as Best Buys, whose philosophy is contrary and revulsive to the ideas of the small German high precision company.

That's worrying! I wondered why the IIIf I just bought wasn't working properly - now I know who to blame .....

Raymond, what's your source for believing the Summarits are not doing well? I can see that they're not out of stock at B&H (unlike the M8 for months after its introduction) but otherwise I've seen no figures and no dealer comments.

I think Raymond Tai above nailed it with the flawed M8 upgrade program...

The Hassy CB lenses, et al ring a bell? The end of Leica Camera is near.

Huh?

Here is the story from Amateur Photographer.

Leica Camera sacks CEO Steven K Lee

Welcome to all things digital! Consumers want a full frame (even if they're not so interested in paying for it). Marketing wants an ff (even if they can't guarantee how many they'll sell and at what price point). The CEO wants an ff (because he's a turn-around guy and wants to drive the company forward with his face on the marquee). The engineers will promise an ff in one year (if only the budget guys would cough up the resources.)

Everyone can promise an ff for the target date (except for the quality assurance guys who can't say anything until they can test prototypes that will actually work in photographers' hands.) Somebody must have had a conversation with QA.

Sony.

Who knows what happened, but I suspect that the German financial press are going to be all over this in the next few days.

Mr. Lee, the CEO of a publicly traded company for a total of about 15 months, has been summarily fired. The company seems to have done this without having any communications plan in place to explain what is going on to shareholders, dealers and customers. Hence all sorts of speculation. This is not normal, in fact it's just plain bizarre.

I should add that I don't mean to overstate Leica's public status. It is closely held and there is very little trading volume. Nevertheless, it is a public company.

My main point is that when a company and a CEO have a parting of the ways, there is normally at least a semblance of civility and a plan to manage communications with employees, dealers and customers. That hasn't happened here.

Brad: +1

RJ, its all very Leicaish.

Pre-announcing new features (such as full-frame) is current quarter "sales suicide" for any company. That's just not the sort of thing he should have leaked at, even hinted at.

think Raymond Tai above nailed it with the flawed M8 upgrade program...

Not so sure it's that flawed. In addition to being an M8 user, I'm also a Hasselblad user. They've announced a similar upgrade scheme to their customer base. I got news of it in an email in exactly the same way as I did from Leica. In it Hasselblad underpins a commitment to its customers that they can buy a camera once and replace its components whenever need to remain 'current'. It would seem to be a fairly considered move - it's not just Leica (or Steven K Lee) being random.

Yes but if you buy a current Hasselblad model the latest components are in it. With the Leica plan you have to buy an out dated model new and then change whatever you want to change for yet more money. You can see the disincentive to buy a new camera immediately unless you have no plans to upgrade. Even so why should I pay full price for a new camera when I can buy one used and then get a 2 year warranty with the upgrade I am going to do anyway? This is good for existing M8 owners but not for anyone else. I also read in the other forum that he managed to piss off the manufacture too. I can only guess he wanted to make the next digital camera R or M in Japan resulting in potential layoffs. Just a guess but makes sense :)

Does anyone else feel that this might be a major mistake? I mean this is a man who helped Best Buy become the jugernaut they are today. Is Leica sticking to their elitist attitude and not allowing them to embrace the future and the possibility of their survival with fresh new thinking?

The Best Buy approach to Leica : isn't that like Mars Bars taking over a small Belgian chocolate company?

Or Porsche taking control of the VW group? It may happen.

It might be a major mistake from the perspective of commercial success, that is why an earlier poster was recommending sell all.

However, an instant dismissal suggests something other than differences over strategy or policy. Usually it would be gross misconduct. He did not even seem to have been given the dignity of a resignation. If he was, but he refused, then whatever happened must have been very acrimonious.

Very German - but you can't let the CEO give away trade secrets even at a trade fair. Leica have turned the corner and are pressed to get production up to meet demand. The last thing you want is a CEO winding up customers further.

"Or Porsche taking control of the VW group? It may happen."

Porsche dont have the balance sheet to do anything like this..their investment in VW reaps them much more in terms of JV manufacturing than VW shareholders get..

Regarding Mr Lee, he flagged his exit a year ago, CEOs of small companies, without any skin on the table in terms of serious equity, come and go like flies in summer...big deal.

and much as I dislike criticizing Leica - I have to say that the upgrade policy announced recently was an incomprehensibly stupid idea on so many levels it defies rational discussion.

I look forward toe the full frame versions of the camera bodies that will take my R glass and the full frame version of the M in due course - that is the strategic roadmap for Leica - it was layed out before Mr Lee joined the company.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0326/breaking35.htm

Posted by Reuters today:

(link)

"the company seems to have done this without having any communications plan in place to explain what is going on..."

Yup. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for every time.

"Or Porsche taking control of the VW group? It may happen.

Porsche dont have the balance sheet to do anything like this."

Well, news items such as

"A German statute known as the "Volkswagen Law" was struck down Tuesday by the European Court of Justice, opening the door for sports car maker Porsche to acquire the German automaker."

(from: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9802483-7.html)

and

"A 47-year-old German law is the only roadblock that stands between Porsche and its long-sought goal of taking over Volkswagen. On Tuesday, the law is likely to be swept away." [It was.]

(from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/business/worldbusiness/23porsche.html)

tend to create a different impression.

"Usually it would be gross misconduct."

That was my first thought - caught with his fly down or somesuch.

More likely, he wanted to make Leica competitive.

Note German ongoing failure of German auto makers to be big players in the US (whupped by Hyundai, and the other usual suspects), and the failure of German banking outside Germany proper...because German banks are weird feudal/socialist entities. Leica's nuts to continue flogging M8, given immediately upcoming 24mp from Sony and $1000 14mp "rangefinder" from Sigma. Leica's target market isn't comprised of people who struggle to assemble $5K to get an M8, in order to use old lenses...Leica's target market is people who will buy M9, M10 etc as well as all the wonderful new lenses the company can dream up. A company like Leica, like Porsche, obviously wants rich customers, not retiree savings. IMO somebody will sell more M8b with 14mp @ $8000 than they have with M8 @ $5000.

...any camera company that suggests cutomers part with 800 GBP just for a slighty quiter camera and an LCD cover are plainly nuts...like the minority who might actually pay that for such a ludicrous 'upgrade'...

Hey, Steven, my Hexar AF is full frame, quieter than any Leica, and came with an LCD cover...$375/KEH.

Can't one just set the shutter speed to 1/4000 and not 1/8000 - do I the speeds right? - to get the same sound level?

Among the high end DSLR's I don't think Leica has come up with a strong enough selling point to beat the competition. Just what is it that makes a Leica the Rolls Royce of modern digital cameras?

Here is the deal: Run the company successfully, create profit for shareholders, and have a sensible marketing-product-development strategy and you get to keep your job. Err on any one of these and "hasta la vista baby."

Oh gosh darnit! I was soooo happy with the M8 I just bought refurbished for about a grand less... I hope Leica does last at least till my social security checks start coming in.

I cannot see Mr. Lee, as CEO of Leica Camera, knowingly making any false statement concerning a full frame digital M series body. I speculate that it must be in the works, and initially scheduled for a 2008 Photokina release. Why else would Leica offer a program to update the APS-ish M8 sensor cameras but not to leave those owners in the proverbial (silicon) dust when the full frame camera is announced. The big question IS can the present M8 be upgraded to the full frame sensor, or will one have to purchase a new (M8.2/M9) body? For what its worth, I've owned Leica M film (and Linhof and Nikon film + digital), and will only buy a digital Leica M if and when the full frame sensor becomes available. To me its all about maximizing the quality of the format. I think the f2.5 Summarit lenses were a mistake for the same reason. The difference in price is not a big deal. Cost cutting does not deliver the quality that gets the performance. Mr. Lee apparently stepped on toes (all mentioned in the above posts) that were more embedded in the Leica establishment than his perceived value to the company. Thats too bad. As a result of all this, everyone has big expectations of Leica Camera for Photokina 2008 (full frame digital M, new and perhaps full frame digital R, etc.). Will they be able to live up to those expectations and if they don't, are they themselves now identified as the cause of any failing to do so?

"The big question IS can the present M8 be upgraded to the full frame sensor"

I would have thought it would be impossible to fit a ff sensor in an M-sized body.

I believe that it is the lens coverage which is at issue and not simply the physical size of the sensor. Erwin Puts has discussed this at length on his Leica Pages site. As I understand the problem, the lens mount on the Leica M body would need to be enlarged to take lenses (particularly the wide angles) with larger rear elements that could transmit light in a perpendicular manner over the entire sensor. The retrofocus wide angle lens designs for the Leica SLR R system might be better for that purpose. Will we see a full frame digital Leica M body modified to take existing R lenses? Or, will we see a new line of lenses for a new M mount based on the retrofocus wide angle R designs? Existing longer focus Leica M lenses could still be used with an adapter for the larger diameter mount. This would be a feasible and cost effective endeavor for a smaller company lacking deep pockets to develop an entirely new design. To survive, Leica has to offer something new. They cannot generate sales by merely upgrading already sold digital M bodies or by lowering their standard of quality.

This whole blog reminds me of why I dumped my Leica stuff ten years ago,soon after I ran a test of it against Nikon and Contax and found Leica be no better.