Leica posts best financial results in a century

Leica’s financial results for the 2021/22 financial year come as a boost for all photographers invested in the brand’s equipment. Sales increased by 16% year on year to €450 million to chalk up the best business result in the company’s 100-year-plus history.

Matthias Harsch, CEO of Leica Camera AG said that the return on sales also increased substantially: “The international premium manufacturer of cameras and sports optics products could thus draw a more than positive balance from the past financial year and was able to accelerate international growth despite the Corona crisis and its effects on supply chains and retail.”

Decade of growth

Here at Macfilos, we’ve been charting the progress of Leica ever since the launch of the M9 and the progress has been quite remarkable, despite a few setbacks and about-turns on the APS-C line. At a time when smartphone cameras have killed off the entry-level camera, emphasis in the field of “proper” cameras has moved inexorably up-market, although not quite into Leica price territory yet. It seems that enthusiasts are prepared to pay more for the latest digital wonders and Leica has benefited along with the rest.

What we often forget is that Leica is one of the few technology companies to have followed Apple with its dedicated one-brand retail stores. There are now more than 100 such Leica stores around the world, a familiar sight in prestige locations from Hong Kong to London. The company’s results show that they are successful. The stores, just like Apple’s counterparts, promote exclusivity and encourage customers to shop without the distraction of competing products. In most cases, as with Apple, customers pay full retail price.

Xiaomi

Another string to Leica’s bow is the cooperation with smartphone manufacturers, now focused on the Chinese brand Xiaomi. The arrival of a one-inch sensor in that company’s flagship product is a harbinger of future trends in smartphone cameras. More capable phone cameras will further erode interest in low-end dedicated cameras. Smartphones are the true inheritors of the “best camera is the one in your pocket” meme.

Yet there is just one aspect that troubles me. Leica’s partnerships with Android-based smartphones have the curious effect of excluding all Leica users (and they could be a majority) who are committed to the Apple system. However attractive the Xiaomi and its massive sensor, I would never abandon the Apple eco-system. I’m more than happy to accept whatever camera Apple provides.

I suspect, though, that Leica’s involvement with Xiaomi is aimed at expansion in new directions, particularly in China. The target is not the existing Leica camera buyer, but a more general market which can be seduced by the Leica brand when choosing a smartphone. In any event, it gives Leica a foot in the door of smartphone camera technology at a time when phones have virtually taken over the snapshot market.

Niggles

As I hinted earlier in this article, Leica hasn’t navigated the past ten years without making mistakes and without some curious changes of mind. A prime example is the rise and fall of the APS-C range. Following the tacit acknowledgement that the CL is dead, Macfilos readers have chewed the bone to fragments.

We’ve navigated the rocky road from the first X1 through the ill-fated X Vario and on to the innovative but ultimately unsuccessful T/L. Finally, a camera that most enthusiasts thought would provide a firm foundation for the future of APS-C at Leica. The CL is a brilliant little camera, the true inheritor of the original Barnack ethos, and deserved a future.

Oddly, as I have mentioned before, the original APS-C camera, the X1, was revolutionary in that it popularised the concept of a tine camera (Barnack size) with a fast lens integral lens and large sensor. Typically, Leica dropped that ball — the first of many — and abandoned the field to Fujifilm.

Still, we don’t know all the facts — especially not the financial aspects of continuing to develop the CL and, more important, the accompanying lenses. In reality, Leica’s APS-C venture died from neglect. However, the company clearly believes that concentration on full-frame sensors in the Q, SL and M ranges is most likely to maximise profits. No one can argue with that; Leica has to succeed and any dead wood, however attractive to a sub-set of customers, has to be excised.

Full-frame ahead

While smartphone camera technology is developed in partnership with Xiaomi, it is Panasonic that provides much of the electronic gubbins for Leica’s triumvirate of digitals. As recently announced, the technological partnership with Panasonic is expanding into unspecified future products and directions.

And the 2018 L-Mount Alliance between Leica, Panasonic and Sigma, has proved very successful in supplementing Leica’s range of lenses. In fact, without the existence of the LMA, it is doubtful that the SL would have had a future. Not only are Leica’s relatively few L-mount lenses very expensive, but development also appears to be moribund. Panasonic and Sigma have come to the rescue for many SL owners and these lower-cost optics make for a cheaper overall system which cannot be bad.

Micro four thirds

I’ve always had a soft spot for MFT and have owned both Panasonic and Olympus ILCs in the past. And I have often wondered why Leica doesn’t use its Panasonic connections to branch out into the format.

The D-Lux, which Leica enthusiasts love, is based on the four-thirds format and I have a sneaking suspicion that a Leica-branded MFT camera would succeed and would step into the breach left by the departure of the CL.

Such a camera would be a Leica rebrand of a Panasonic, of course, following the D-Lux and C-Lux precedent, but it would sell at a premium and would bring more customers into Leica stores, creating new brand loyalty which could eventually percolate upwards to the M, the SL or the Q.

Often overlooked, is that Leica does have a wide range of high-performing MFT primes and zooms, ranging from the 9mm (18mm equivalent) f/1.7 Summilux to the 200mm f/2.8 Elmarit. And we shouldn’t forget that suburb 42.5 (90mm) f/1.2 Nocticron. They are manufactured and marketed by Panasonic, but they are there, just waiting for a Leica-branded MFT camera.

I list the lenses here because it really is an impressive collection. Dare I say that there are more Leica micro four-thirds lenses than Leica T or, even, L lenses.

• LEICA DG SUMMILUX 9mm F1.7 ASPH.
• LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm F2.8 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S.
• LEICA DG SUMMILUX 12mm F1.4 ASPH.
• LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm F1.7 ASPH.
• LEICA DG SUMMILUX 25mm F1.4 II ASPH.
• LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH. POWER O.I.S.
• LEICA DG ELMARIT 200mm F2.8 POWER O.I.S.
• LEICA DG VARIO-SUMMILUX 25-50mm / F1.7 ASPH.
• LEICA DG VARIO-ELMARIT 8-18mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH.
• LEICA DG VARIO-SUMMILUX 10-25mm F1.7 ASPH.
• LEICA DG VARIO-ELMARIT 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH. POWER O.I.S.
• LEICA DG VARIO-ELMARIT 50-200mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH. POWER O.I.S.
• LEICA DG VARIO-ELMAR 100-400mm F4.0-6.3 ASPH. POWER O.I.S.

Yet all this is certainly wishful thinking. Leica has repeatedly told us that it will never enter the MFT market. But wouldn’t it be nice if they did? I think there is a market there. What do you think? Would you buy a Leica-branded MFT system to replace your CL? Let us know below:

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