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Author Topic: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI  (Read 59660 times)

E.J. Peiker

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #60 on: January 05, 2017, 06:15:40 pm »

Friends who have purchased DJI drones marvel at the company's talent and marketing skills.  I don't think they are a two-bit Chinese junk operation and frankly I'm optimistic about Hasselblad's future.
I would tend to agree with that.  Check out how they introduced the Mavic Pro - Steve Jobs could not have done better...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CaTuSbUZ68
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wattsies2

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #61 on: January 05, 2017, 06:41:30 pm »

As Mark Twain said, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

I think this can only be a good thing.  One would imagine that DJI is more likely to be a long term holder and investor in Hasselblad than a private equity firm whose mandate is to make a certain return and then sell.  Let's hope so anyway - it's in all our interests that the photography market continue to be diverse and populated with a variety of companies pushing R&D in new directions, as well as having regard to the roots of the discipline.
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Gigi

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #62 on: January 05, 2017, 07:33:36 pm »

There are many ways to have "ownership". One can imagine Hassy with lots of interest in new products, but needing either cash, software development or possibly contemporary production expertise, and going out to get it. Somehow the idea of them just giving away the store doesn't feel anywhere close to this situation. One could rather imagine them protecting their product line, resurging reputation, and newly emerging models in any negotiations with investors or shareholders.

For reasons pointed out above, this may well be one of those cases it's good for both parties, on any levels. Mature Chinese companies have shown in other cases they know how to honor and protect the management and engineering expertise of companies they have acquired. Maybe its time to give Mr. Perry the benefit of the doubt in his negotiations until more is known.

I'm choosing to read the article as a plea to Hassy and its owners to be upfront and make a proper statement about the changes, and what they mean for this hallowed brand. In that light, it's a good article.
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Geoff

JeffS

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #63 on: January 05, 2017, 11:47:32 pm »

The Hasselblad article has already been superseded, 24 hours later, by an unremarkable Fuji announcement.  Lead articles on LuLa typically last 3 days or so.  Coincidence?  :)

Jeff
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NickT

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #64 on: January 05, 2017, 11:50:58 pm »

After having thought about this quite a bit and having read every post on every forum that is discussing this, and being a 27 year veteran (retired) of the tech industry, I have come to the conclusion that this is likely to be a very good thing for Hasselblad beyond the much needed cash infusion to deal with the additional up-front production tooling and costs to meet unanticipated demand.  I think anybody that has worked in the tech industry that has followed the saga of the X1D has come to the realization that Hasselblad came up with a great hardware design but that they greatly underestimated the difficulty and the time scope, given their reportedly limited resources, of the software side of bringing this camera to market.  All signs point to firmware development as being the major bottleneck in bringing this camera to market.  DJI on the other hand excels at the software side of the business and as majority financial investor in Hasselblad (note that what's been reported is that they are taking or took a majority shareholder position which is different from a straight-up acquisition), they have the financial and technical capability to bring both the financial and computer engineering/programming resources to bear to make not only the X1D great but also to give the company some more solid financial footing. 

What does DJI get out of it, this is pure speculation on my part, but for one an iconic brand name which has significant value, exceptional aesthetic engineering capabilities, expertise in large sensor hardware integration and deep partnerships with world class optics manufacturers.  And then there's drones which are going to be regulated into oblivion in the EU as the EU has done to anything that flies except airlines (and that's debatable) but if there is now an EU drone company, DJI or Hasselblad Drones in the EU will likely make the overzealous EU regulators look at drones a bit differently - again pure speculation...


Very well said, thank you.
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BAB

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #65 on: January 06, 2017, 01:03:48 am »

Hmm,
Ray Kroc was selling hamburgers lots of them he needed money so after getting turned down from everyone he went to his bakery supplier. They funded him, but they didn't buy the company. The company the was not a brand name at the time, like Hasselblad. Later Ray did pretty good with his hamburger business.


If you have lots of orders, your product has a good profit margin and your software is bleeding but there is still hope. So mayby your little camera business got so big so fast demanding so much cash that your financial partners couldn't pony up the cash. So you went elesewhere for the cash, hopefully didn't sell your soul to the devil. You got the cash more then you needed, it's a win win. Your investors got out of Dodge taking a (hit) discount on their positions and your new partners got in on a (steal) good deal.
Hopefully it went like that? We all want to see a progressive MF system crowned king again.
If I'm right...
Phase One hold on to your hat!



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tennapel

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #66 on: January 06, 2017, 02:18:15 am »

I have been a reader of LuLa for a year now. As opposed to other forums, I like the lack of drama and heated debates over brands and technologies.

I enjoy the great in depth articles about printers and going back to print. The recent article from the photographers that travel in an Airstream trailer, balancing work and photography needs was very inspiring to read.

The tone of this article is very different from what I have read before. I can understand why people reacted negative to it or even read bad intent into it; the speculation and the factual are not clearly distinguished.

Maybe the takeaway is that when the writer of an article expresses an opinion it should be stated more clearly. I have read Kevin's statement on this forum and I take that for true. Having a peer review before publishing might help for future articles.
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peterwgallagher

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #67 on: January 06, 2017, 03:00:02 am »

Well done, Kevin!

A very good article. Certainly newsworthy, still a scoop it seems, with well-informed commentary (& interesting back-story). Balanced, in my view. But 'balance' be damned! I do not agree at all with the advice that some Members seem so eager to offer: that LULA should genuflect to the manufacturers, avoid "speculation" & only whisper remarks that might hint of criticism.

As someone who still lusts after the XD-1, I'm delighted to see you are maintaining LULA's independent-enthusiast stance. I am sure you're absolutely right about "What Michael Would Have Done". But that isn't the measure of a good article either (he might have agreed?). Please keep doing this when you can.

Best wishes.
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landscapephoto

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #68 on: January 06, 2017, 03:31:38 am »

I guess we can see it two ways. One is the positive one, Hasselblad is owned by I company on the go with lots of money. I don't know about the negative on.

Exactly. Hasselblad revenue is around 30 millions a year, while DJI is about 1.4 billion.

Quote
If you go back to the original Imacon deal, it could be seen as an ideal situation for Phase One and Hasselblad. Phase One made the backs and Hasselblad made the cameras.

But, it was very clear that it was in the backs the money was. The cost for a back was like a camera body with 5-10 lenses. Hasselblad decided that they would sell their own backs with their cameras. Phase needed to somewhere else to for bodies. I think that Phase One earned a lot of sympathies those days, but it was an entirely feasible decision by Hasselblad.

It may be that Hasselblad was not around today without that decision. We don't know…

That is indeed what happened. That, and Hasselblad issued the H1 in 2002, so they had everything geared up for analog photography at that time. At the time, the prevailing opinion was that analog was there to stay for the professional market. 2 years after, the situation was completely different and Hasselblad partnered with then little known Phase One for developing their backs. In 2008, when Hasselblad decided to stop supporting third party backs, the situation was quite clear: the digital backs were where the money was to be made. The choice was either to sell out Hasselblad to Phase One or to close the system.


Quote
Now, it seems that Hasselblad may have been taken over by DJI. Why? Could be they feel that it is fun to own Hasselblad, but it could also be that they feel there is a market for large sensor aerial photography and they want to earn that money self instead of doing all the hard work and let Phase one walk off with the profits.

Quite possible. There is a huge market for aerial photography in the agricultural business. It could be that DJI sees growth in that direction. Conversely, the market for cheap "selfie" drones is quite cluttered, so probably DJI understand they need to diversify.
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GMB

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #69 on: January 06, 2017, 04:00:02 am »

When Jaguar was bought by Indians, many feared the worse.  Matter of fact, they then produced some of their best and coolest cars in decades, much better than what they did while owned by the Americans.  So let's wait what happens here.

Just my 2c.

Paulo Bizarro

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #70 on: January 06, 2017, 04:05:18 am »

The Hasselblad article has already been superseded, 24 hours later, by an unremarkable Fuji announcement.  Lead articles on LuLa typically last 3 days or so.  Coincidence?  :)

Jeff

Indeed, I was again surprised to see a front page article about a graphite special edition camera from Fuji... really? I can understand that the editor has personal preferences, just like any of us, and that he currently has a sweet spot for Fuji. In the meantime, for example, in other systems, some great lenses have come out (e.g. Loxia 21, Batis 18, Voigtlander 10, 12, 15, Nikon 105, etc), without similar front page (or back page) notoriety.

DezFoto

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #71 on: January 06, 2017, 06:34:51 am »

I don't really see how DJI becoming a majority shareholder equates to more operating capital as is eluded to in the artical on the main site, that's not really how it works.
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Tony Jay

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #72 on: January 06, 2017, 06:58:13 am »

I don't really see how DJI becoming a majority shareholder equates to more operating capital as is eluded to in the artical on the main site, that's not really how it works.
Huh?? :o
Companies are taken over for lots of reasons.
You don't know for sure whether DJI won't put more money into the operation any more than I do.
In this particular case though there is really no logic to the takeover if DJI just allows the Hasselblad operation to wither away and die.
There is actually plenty of evidence that DJI see Hasselblad as an important complement to their main business - drones that are used essentially for photo-reconnaissance. As far as I know it is not military tasking but I don't that for sure.

Tony Jay
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Hans Kruse

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #73 on: January 06, 2017, 08:50:28 am »

Huh?? :o
Companies are taken over for lots of reasons.
You don't know for sure whether DJI won't put more money into the operation any more than I do.
In this particular case though there is really no logic to the takeover if DJI just allows the Hasselblad operation to wither away and die.
There is actually plenty of evidence that DJI see Hasselblad as an important complement to their main business - drones that are used essentially for photo-reconnaissance. As far as I know it is not military tasking but I don't that for sure.

Tony Jay

Having being involved with mergers myself, I'm sure DJI sees synergy that will be beneficial for both companies and having a controlling share is essential. Sometimes such synergy does not really become reality for many reasons both inside and outside the company. Only time will tell. MF is not in my interest, but I find it interesting with the evolution that has happened in this space over the recent years despite all the expectations for MF to become extinct soon.

JeffS

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #74 on: January 06, 2017, 10:20:22 am »

Indeed, I was again surprised to see a front page article about a graphite special edition camera from Fuji... really? I can understand that the editor has personal preferences, just like any of us, and that he currently has a sweet spot for Fuji. In the meantime, for example, in other systems, some great lenses have come out (e.g. Loxia 21, Batis 18, Voigtlander 10, 12, 15, Nikon 105, etc), without similar front page (or back page) notoriety.

My point was less about Fuji and more about the notion that I think Kevin couldn't wait to change the subject, given all the controversy.  The new headline could have been a pie recipe.

Jeff
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jduncan

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #75 on: January 06, 2017, 11:02:57 am »

Trust me if Michael was still with us he wouldn't have waited as long as I did to publish the article.

I do,
He practically "hated" Hasselblad and Hasselblad "hate" him back.
I was under the impression that everybody in the industry knew that.

Best regards 
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E.J. Peiker

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #76 on: January 06, 2017, 11:08:57 am »

My point was less about Fuji and more about the notion that I think Kevin couldn't wait to change the subject, given all the controversy.  The new headline could have been a pie recipe.

Jeff
Yummy!  I love pie!
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JeffS

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #77 on: January 06, 2017, 11:15:19 am »


He practically "hated" Hasselblad and Hasselblad "hate" him back.

But Michael loved the Hasselblad X-Pan.  Oh wait, that was actually manufactured by Fuji.   :)

Jeff
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SCFrieze3

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #78 on: January 06, 2017, 12:23:10 pm »

I personally don't care who owns Hasselblad.  What matters to me is whether or not they continue to make a professional quality camera that I want to use and enjoy using.  I loved my 500cm.  I loved using it.  I loved the images we produced together.  After seeing and holding the X1D I really want to go out and shoot with it.  I want to see if we can develop the synergy of a productive working relationship that is enjoyable.  I want to be able to choose between systems.  Right now I've been lusting after the Phase One xf 100mp.  But I like this camera.  Since I could use H lenses with xid I wouldn't have to have two different systems and two sets of lenses.  If DJI helps Hasselblad continue making excellent equipment then wonderful for all of us... we have a choice of systems and Phase has competition.  It just might be a good thing for all of us.
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NickT

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Re: Hasselblad Acquired By DJI
« Reply #79 on: January 06, 2017, 01:36:28 pm »

DJI have not acquired Hasselblad.

What they have done is increased their shareholding and will sit on the board alongside Ventizz Capital (existing owners).

DJI have a great deal of technical know how and this is a good thing for Hasselblad.
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