Is Silverfleet Capital buying Hasselblad? or is it only a rumour?

[hasselbladfan]

We all know that Hasselblad is having some financial struggles.

But having the same private equity house owning both Phase One and Hasselblad would be unique.

Future will tell.  

[synn]

For the sake of healthy competition, I hope not.
If Phase and Hasselblad are under one umbrella, I presume Trufocus would be added to the XF, the H system would be quietly retired and the CFV will carry on. Not a good thing.

If anything, I would like Fuji to take over. They have a history in MF, already do lenses for Blad and know the H system quiet well. They have also demonstrated that they can take a garden variety Sony sensor and do something special with it.

[aztwang]

For the sake of healthy competition, I hope not.
If Phase and Hasselblad are under one umbrella, I presume Trufocus would be added to the XF, the H system would be quietly retired and the CFV will carry on. Not a good thing.

If anything, I would like Fuji to take over. They have a history in MF, already do lenses for Blad and know the H system quiet well. They have also demonstrated that they can take a garden variety Sony sensor and do something special with it.

Interesting, I thought a similar system to that of true focus could possibly be one of the first firmware updates to the XF (I was not aware the technology was patented) and recall Doug saying if this is a feature that XF  owners want it would be wise to make your voice heard with your dealer and they would pass it on to P1.
As far as Hassy, would hate to see them go away, competition breeds development, new products and technology and MFD could stand some growth, not diminishment so I hope someone other than P1 picks them up.

[jduncan]

Interesting, I thought a similar system to that of true focus could possibly be one of the first firmware updates to the XF (I was not aware the technology was patented) and recall Doug saying if this is a feature that XF  owners want it would be wise to make your voice heard with your dealer and they would pass it on to P1.
As far as Hassy, would hate to see them go away, competition breeds development, new products and technology and MFD could stand some growth, not diminishment so I hope someone other than P1 picks them up.

I agree with the general sentiment, but maybe  phase will have competency from the other brands, both from Pentax in the medium format space and from Sony and Canon from the 35mm. A combined company could be a dream come true for many, like the a dream that was voice here more than one time.

Best regards,

[Conner999]

Just speculation/opinion by someone at the photorumors site based on their opinion of Hassy's financial health - and picking the only other household name in the MF world as the supposedly needed/ideal acquirer. That's it. Unfortunately, as with anything, once on the 'web it's getting traction. 

[eronald]

Well, the rumors of Hassy's demise may be somewhat exagerated ...

Edmund

[torger]

The numbers are not great looking, but everyone knew that as the numbers are public like for all Swedish "aktiebolag".  You can get the annual report too.

http://www.allabolag.se/5565283123/Victor_Hasselblad_AB (the actual company where work is done)
http://www.allabolag.se/5566365846/Hasselblad_AB (their holding company I suppose)

The numbers for 2014 is still lacking there though. And it will take yet one more year to see the (hopefully positive) effects of the H5D/CFV-50c.

They can always get money injected from the owners if they still believe in the company, and I think they have a long term plan. If the right buyer comes along I'd guess the company can be sold at any time.

[hasselbladfan]

If Phase and Hasselblad are under one umbrella, I presume Trufocus would be added to the XF, the H system would be quietly retired and the CFV will carry on. Not a good thing.

If Private Equity buys it, it is all about multiples of EBITDA. So, they will try to stop the bleeding and improve the profit line. They rarely stop lines (with the exception of the Lunatic series). But price competition may be reduced a bit.

[synn]

Although I am a Leaf user, I have a fondness for Hasselblad. It is one of those brandnames that have a permanent spot in the main hall of photography hall of fame.

Whoever takes them over, I hope they focus on marketing the brand as a photography brand once again, instead of the pseudo luxury whatever they have tried to be recently. Compete with Phase, not with Bulgari.

(As I said before, I believe Fuji will get them there better than Silverfleet or any other venture capital firm).

[hasselbladfan]

+1

The beauty of Fuji would be that they have a great income stream from other camera systems / lenses.

But the japanese are never quick to make a decision.

[BobDavid]

MFD is now competing with certain mirroless offerings. It is simple to attach a 7RII to a tech cam. I am not trying to incite a bitter debate. It's just that I have been following tech trends over the past 40 years. Granted, MFD is still the king/queen of IQ, however mirrorless offers portability, flexibility, and cost savings. Mirrorless camera technology is evolving rapidly, MFD moves at a slower pace. Surely we can all agree that just like the shift from mainframe & mini computers to desktop PCs, mirroless digital capture is a disruptive technology.

[BJL]

Note that Hasselblad is already owned by another private capital firm, Ventizz: http://www.vmcap.de/en/pm110630.php  I agree that a merger with another photographic player might help, and Fujifilm is the only one I see with any reason to get involved.  The former owner Shriro probably helped to get Hasselblad this far when it arranged the merger of Hasselblad with Imacon.  But maybe the larger-than-35mm market cannot sustain all the current systems, and Hasselblad has been outflanked by Phase One, with its exclusive deals on the more recent "near 645 full frame" Dalsa sensors, take-over of Leaf, partnership with Alpa, and so on.

[synn]

So what you're saying is that the Leica s and contax lenses are going off to eBay soon.

Cool.

[rogan]

1.  Real and hip (even if the "real" is constructed).  This can be shot with an i phone, m43, a canon rebel, virtually any camera that is fast and available.

2.  Extreme post manipulation which is usually shot with higher megapixel cameras, since post work is 90% of the concept and final imagery.

Everything else falls in the middle ground with mid to lower pay.

Sadly I so agree with you Cooter!

[rogan]

I don't sell much stuff. 

Why would I, I own all our gear and it makes us money?

I just know how the wind blows in the professional world and when you see something different, you have to take notice.



IMO

BC

I just find the crazy brand loyalty in this business amusing. It's Chevy vs Ford all over again. I'll shoot whatever works the best for that project. Currently shooting Nikon/sony/leica and occasionally rent Canon. Would switch in a heart beat if it made my pictures better. But I will not be loyal to any of them unless they are doing their job.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Whoever may buy Hasselblad, they would do it to have a decent return on investment. That is to say the investor needs to do a market analysis and figure that there is large enough share of the market to make decent earnings.

The MFD market is a bit crowded, with Phase One (including Leaf) competing with Hasselblad, Pentax and Leica.

Best regards
Erik

+1

The beauty of Fuji would be that they have a great income stream from other camera systems / lenses.

But the japanese are never quick to make a decision.

[synn]

Nothing is too crowded if you're disruptive enough.
They said the cellphone market was too crowded when Apple started and look where we are now.

[JoeKitchen]

Man we were not looking ahead.  We should have been inventing a ring flash for an iPhone.

BC

Ringflash for an iPhone!  As much as I dislike the look of a ringflash, I might actually buy that, because the one thing I hate a lot more is an above camera flash. 

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Synn,

A very good point. It is just that I don't see that innovation in MFD.

Just to make a small point, price point does also matter. Would the iPhone sell att 6k$US or 60k$US, the market would be an almost non existent niche. But the iPhone is priced absolutely right. Expensive enough to make great earnings but inexpensive enough to have a great market.

Best regards
Erik

Nothing is too crowded if you're disruptive enough.
They said the cellphone market was too crowded when Apple started and look where we are now.

[razrblck]

Unfortunately medium format sensors still cost quite a bit. It's hard to find prices, but the ones I found hover between 3k and 5k per unit above 30Mpix.