There is a rumour in Hong Kong that Leica has suspensed the production of M7 to move the stock for M6. Orders to dealers are cancelled by Leica. Most dealers in Hong kong had no stock on hand and the price had inflated to HK$ 16,500-17,000. Is there anyone heard about this rumour?

-- Anthony (amhlee@i-cable.com), April 17, 2002

Answers

I have not heard that rumor here in the US. If Leica suspended M7 production for that reason, their marketing department is insane. I suspect the bulk of people who are buying M7's already own at least one M6 and have no desire for another.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 17, 2002.

Have just finished a Leica demo attended by Kai Anderson from Leica H.Q. The above is a rumour, probably from a local dealer who wants to move his M6's before ordering M7's.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), April 17, 2002.

I cannot really understand this philiosphy. I think Leica need more sales than it has at the moment. M7 is their major product for this year, I just wonder they will do this.

-- Anthony (amhlee@i-cable.com), April 17, 2002.

I too suspect that it is only a rumour. After all Leica has known for more than a year and a half now that the M7 was coming.

Couple that with rebates now for the M6 and almost all of last year. I can imagine that they learned from their experience with the R8, in which inventories of product apparently far outstripped demand for quite some time. That would indicate to me that most, if not all the NIB M6 TTLs are not in Leicas AG hands, but those of the various distributors (e.g. Leica USA) or their dealers.

My dealers orders are in the mid 20's now for the M7 and less than 5 (all black 0.72s) have trickeled in. He has had one black M6TTL 0.58 in the counter for over 3 months which he says no one has been interested in.

I would be curious as to just what "all out" Leica M production capacity is. Not much I'd bet. Certainly not enough to slow or suspend it with M7 demand where it is.

Best,

Jerry

-- Jerome R. Pfile, Jr. (JerryPfile@msn.com), April 17, 2002.

it makes perfect sense that leica would "control" the flow of m7s to make sure they do not get stuck with vast quantities of m6s if it turns out that the m7 becomes the only leica anybody ever wants. it's a small company with tite margins. i hope they do what makes the best business sense to assure their long term viability. if this means making people wait a while for their m7, so be it. you can always buy one at a premium on ebay if supplies dry up.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), April 17, 2002.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the same source indicates that M6TTL 0.58 will no longer in production any more due to the lack of demand. This one looks a little bit more reasonable.

-- Anthony (amhlee@i-cable.com), April 17, 2002.

As said by others - this sounds more like a rumor concocted by DEALERS who want to move M6 stocks, rather than real Leica policy.

However it would not surprise me at all if the CHROME .58 M6 bodies have been discontinued for a while - every dealer in Denver area has at least 1 .58x body languishing on the shelf - most of them chrome.

Also explains why Leica isn't offering the -7 in .58 chrome. Why beat your head against a wall?

The regular black .72 M7s, BTW, are actually fairly easy to find here in Denver - there is always at least one dealer with an M7 available at any one time, out of 5-6 dealers that I know of.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 17, 2002.