Leica celebrates most successful business year to date, sells 10 times as many analogue Leica M models as in 2015
PhotoTrend recently interviewed Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, chairman of the supervisory board at Leica and majority owner, and Cyril Thomas, CEO of Leica France. Some interesting details were revealed: first and foremost, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann expects 2023 to be the most successful year in Leica's history to date with sales of over EUR 500 million.
The group attributes this success primarily to the Leica M system for which Leica is still known. Leica produces around 12,000 digital Leica M, mainly in the form of Leica M11 and Leica M11 Monochrom. With a list price of EUR 8750 for the cheaper Leica M11, this corresponds to a turnover of EUR 105 million. Surprisingly, analogue Leica M cameras are proving to be extremely popular - while only 500 analogue Leica M were sold in 2015, the manufacturer expects 5000 analogue cameras to be sold this year.
These include, above all, the Leica MP and the Leica M6, which are technically almost identical and each combine the classic rangefinder with a light meter powered by a button battery. Since the shutter is completely mechanical, there is no automatic exposure. The Leica M-A completely does without electronics, including the light meter, and so does not require a battery. The Leica M7, which featured automatic exposure thanks to an electronically controlled shutter, is no longer manufactured.
The head of Leica France describes the demand for the Leica Q3 as "absolutely crazy" - at least in France, Leica has never sold as many cameras as in 2023. While no specific questions were asked about the Leica SL system, Cyril Thomas asserts that the Leica S system is not a thing of the past. Although a Leica S4 will not be launched next year, the CEO assumes that a successor to the medium format camera will be introduced sooner or later.
