By Heinz Richter
Quite often I hear complaints that Leica is diluting their core business with new, unrelated items like the Leica watches and cell phones etc.
Those complaints are similar to the ones voiced when Leica switched to the M5 with its different body layout or when digital photography became an issue.
Conservative thinking almost brought Leica to its knees, had it not been for Dr. Kaufmann when he purchased the company and steered it in a new direction.
The success of that new (for Leica) approach has been one of the great success stories in photography ever since.
Once again, the company has set a new record for the 2024/25 financial year . Leica achieved the highest revenue in its history, with sales climbing 7.6% to around €596 million ($699m) compared with €554 million ($649m) the previous year. That was led by Leica’s core camera division, while its mobile segment, including smartphone collaborations, also made a significant contribution. Other product areas, such as high-end home cinema projectors, luxury watches, and premium spectacle lenses. all reported substantial revenue increases. Despite a challenging market, the Sports Optics segment also held on as Leica’s second-largest business area.
That success had Europe leading with a 7.6% growth, driven by an 11.4% increase in Germany alone. Sales in Asia rose by 7.3%, while North America climbed to 6.2%. The company also expanded its retail footprint, opening new Leica Stores in Wuhan, Tokyo, and Seoul, while online sales jumped by a further 12.5%.
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