Is Hasselblad going bye bye?

[Jlister]

http://www.slrlounge.com/hasselblad-bought-phase-one-zeiss-loxia-otus-announcements-coming-soon-daily-roundup/

I saw this today, which to me was unnerving considering a dropped a boatload of $$ on a new Hasselblad last month. I have used Hasselblad since high school and this is my second digital body. I love the camera and their lenses. The availability of the leaf shutter lenses is another bonus. I'm worried about support in the future or dramatic loss in resale value.  What do you guys think of the state of Hasselblad and their future?

[eronald]

http://www.slrlounge.com/hasselblad-bought-phase-one-zeiss-loxia-otus-announcements-coming-soon-daily-roundup/

I saw this today, which to me was unnerving considering a dropped a boatload of $$ on a new Hasselblad last month. I have used Hasselblad since high school and this is my second digital body. I love the camera and their lenses. The availability of the leaf shutter lenses is another bonus. I'm worried about support in the future or dramatic loss in resale value.  What do you guys think of the state of Hasselblad and their future?

This is an old rumor.
Which doesn't make it necessarily untrue, but private capital is always buying and reselling companies.

Edmund

[hasselbladfan]

I'm worried about support in the future or dramatic loss in resale value.  What do you guys think of the state of Hasselblad and their future?

It would not be Phase One, who would buy Hasselblad. It would be the private equity firm Silverfleet Capital (who owns P1), who would invest money in a second MF manufacturer. That in itself is not such a bad news. These guys only think money, they don't care about leaf shutters or a long history. They just believe they can turnaround the Company and make more money, so let them do it.

But I agree, Fuji would be a better LT owner.

[araucaria]

Sony could buy Hasselblad.

[hasselbladfan]

Sony could buy Hasselblad.

Why would they do that? They make a good profit in supplying sensors to MF manufacturers and they give them a tough time with the A7R II.

Fuji has most to loose if Hasselblad goes belly up. And it would be a perfect fit for their line-up.

[DucatiTerminator]

Sony could buy Hasselblad.

Yes, probably from the sales of their new overpriced (~$3,300) RX1R II alone.

[eronald]

Fuji has most to loose if Hasselblad goes belly up. And it would be a perfect fit for their line-up.

i think Fuji had planned to buy them as a transition to digital for their wedding business, but they ran out of money.

[JV]

Fuji has most to loose if Hasselblad goes belly up. And it would be a perfect fit for their line-up.

I don't believe Fuji will ever buy Hasselblad.  Fuji makes their money through the instant Instax cameras and too a much lesser extent (and only very recently) through the Fuji X cameras.

I would be surprised if the number of Hasselblad lenses they sell is significant enough to have an impact.

[eronald]

I don't believe Fuji will ever buy Hasselblad.  Fuji makes their money through the instant Instax cameras and too a much lesser extent (and only very recently) through the Fuji X cameras.

I would be surprised if the number of Hasselblad lenses they sell is significant enough to have an impact.

Actually, incountry Japan is very different for them. They used to own the "marriage" and "portrait" studio market from capture to print. And a lot of it was MF-based.

Edmund

[JV]

Actually, incountry Japan is very different for them. They used to own the "marriage" and "portrait" studio market from capture to print. And a lot of it was MF-based.

Edmund

Is or was?  As far as I know Fuji exited MF entirely last year when they announced they would discontinue the analog rangefinder GF670 (which is still being sold, probably till supplies last). 

The GX645 was discontinued 5 years ago.  I don't believe they would be interested in buying it back...  Likewise they are discontinuing their film.  Fuji is not a company that is interested in niche markets.

[Joe Towner]

Fuji either buys them or gets a whole new partner.  Given the margin on the HC/HCD lenses, and the whole GX645 partnership, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a standing 'first right of refusal' for the balance of the company.  It would also allow them to easily ignore the 35mm FF business, given their APS-C products are doing well.

[Miyata610]

I thought Fuji made more money in the broadcast lens area.  Most broadcast cameras nowadays seem to be Sony with Fuji lenses.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

If the market or marketshare is not large enough to sustain rentability, I would suggest that the prospects are bleak. Now, I would say we know little about Hasselblad's financials since they are a privately owned company. Leica was revived by a huge injection of capital, something like 200 M€, but I don't expect Hasselblad would be that fortunate.

Let's hope that Hasselblad is in a better shape than what the rumors say.

Best regards
Erik

http://www.slrlounge.com/hasselblad-bought-phase-one-zeiss-loxia-otus-announcements-coming-soon-daily-roundup/

I saw this today, which to me was unnerving considering a dropped a boatload of $$ on a new Hasselblad last month. I have used Hasselblad since high school and this is my second digital body. I love the camera and their lenses. The availability of the leaf shutter lenses is another bonus. I'm worried about support in the future or dramatic loss in resale value.  What do you guys think of the state of Hasselblad and their future?

[eronald]

The new Phase body is IMHO still inferior to the Hassy. So Hassy are now in the wonderful position of having a full lens range, low R&D costs thanks to the Sony drop-in sensor range and the possibility of saying "just use Lightroom", and a modern body. What is there not to like financially here? Production is set up and tuned, the product is competitive, R&D is on cruise control, and the main competition are selling a product that is not superior, while insisting that outrageous prices are a desirable "luxury"  feature.

Edmund

Hi,

If the market or marketshare is not large enough to sustain rentability, I would suggest that the prospects are bleak. Now, I would say we know little about Hasselblad's financials since they are a privately owned company. Leica was revived by a huge injection of capital, something like 200 M€, but I don't expect Hasselblad would be that fortunate.

Let's hope that Hasselblad is in a better shape than what the rumors say.

Best regards
Erik

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Edmund,

As said before little is known about Hasselblads financials. What you say is correct but the question is if Hasselblad is earning enough to maintain operations. I hope they do, but we don't know.

Regarding the Sony sensors I don't know if that is salvation. The Sony sensors are probably very good. The samples I have seen were very good at least. But they are still small for medium format.

So what you write a lot of sense, the question is just if it is enough.

Another factor is that the market that Hasselblad operates within may be limited and there is some real competition not only Phase One, but also Leica and Pentax.

So, I would say: "Difficult the future to predict is…"

Best regards
Erik

The new Phase body is IMHO still inferior to the Hassy. So Hassy are now in the wonderful position of having a full lens range, low R&D costs thanks to the Sony drop-in sensor range and the possibility of saying "just use Lightroom", and a modern body. What is there not to like financially here? Production is set up and tuned, the product is competitive, R&D is on cruise control, and the main competition are selling a product that is not superior, while insisting that outrageous prices are a desirable "luxury"  feature.

Edmund

[tom b]

The last time I looked through a Hasselblad viewfinder the image was back-the-front and upside down, the mirror had lots of dust spots on it. Hasselblad, like Leica have lots of loyal users. As I have posted before, 1.8 billion images are posted online each day. Hasselblad makes great cameras, the war that is being waged now is not about cameras but about media.

I haven't bought a newspaper or magazine for four years. For online images, MFT cameras are "good enough". It is a challenge for photographers and camera manufacturers to address the new reality. The added reality is that a photo shoot can be posted online for partner magazines to download within hours, local photographers are being squeezed out by technology.

Cheers,

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Ctein says in an interview with Michael Reichmann that MFT is perfectly good for A2-size prints. I have never owned or used an MFT camera but I do believe him.

Best regards
Erik

The last time I looked through a Hasselblad viewfinder the image was back-the-front and upside down, the mirror had lots of dust spots on it. Hasselblad, like Leica have lots of loyal users. As I have posted before, 1.8 billion images are posted online each day. Hasselblad makes great cameras, the war that is being waged now is not about cameras but about media.

I haven't bought a newspaper or magazine for four years. For online images, MFT cameras are "good enough". It is a challenge for photographers and camera manufacturers to address the new reality. The added reality is that a photo shoot can be posted online for partner magazines to download within hours, local photographers are being squeezed out by technology.

Cheers,

[Manoli]

Leica was revived by a huge injection of capital, something like 200 M€, but I don't expect Hasselblad would be that fortunate.

Not quite.

Leica was rescued from insolvency in 2004/5 by Andreas Kaufman who paid approximately $80 mill for the privilege.
In 2011, 44% of the company was sold to Blackstone for $179 mill.
Not a lot to do with being fortunate - more to do with success in resuscitating a then almost moribund company.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

The figures I heard was 60M€ and 140 M€ or so.

AFAIK Leica was loosing money at a high rate for many years, but getting that kind of investment enabled them to develop new products and expand production capabilities.

Best regards
Erik

Not quite.

Leica was rescued from insolvency in 2004/5 by Andreas Kaufman who paid approximately $80 mill for the privilege.
In 2011, 44% of the company was sold to Blackstone for $179 mill.
Not a lot to do with being fortunate - more to do with success in resuscitating a then almost moribund company.

[Manoli]

The figures I heard was 60M€ and 140 M€ or so.

AFAIK Leica was loosing money at a high rate for many years, but getting that kind of investment enabled them to develop new products and expand production capabilities.

Here's a link to a WSJ article on the Blackstone share purchase.

The point here being that Kaufman returned Leica to profitability well before the Blackstone involvement with the introduction of the M8 (2007), S2 (2008) and the M9 (2009) plus some successful Panasonic-Leica X combos. His ROI from 2007 to 2011 was almost 500% over the 5 years.

The investment was a consequence of, not a precursor to, Leica's success.